Power Rangers: Nature's Fury
by Patrykowski der Jaeger
Summary: The equivalent of the Greek Gods of myth have invaded Earth under the ancient name of the Chrominites. When all the planet's heroes are abducted, it is up to a select few of them to use the Cronus Stone to fulfill a destiny prophesied long ago.
1. The Prophecy of Eltar

_**Chapter I—The Prophecy of Eltar**_

**—Zordon—**

It was said that the Empire of Eltar would fall to its sworn enemy. It was said that in order to prevail, the Royal Family would have to reunite and bring the forces of opposites together. It was also said to be impossible.Eltar was laid to siege by the Chrominite Empire. I, Zordon, the leader of the planet Eltar and the rightful king—and therefore ruler—fled the planet with my one and only son in hopes of raising him to assist me in my reclamation of my planet. Despite my less than mobile state—newly trapped in an inter-dimensional vortex to keep from rapidly aging—I hoped to lead a rebellion against the forces of evil sweeping the universe. But I was wrong.

As I hurtled through Earth's atmosphere, unsuspecting of the intense gravitational field and lack of shielding my ship possessed, I was separated from my son in a dodgy teleportation attempt by my assistant, the automaton Alpha V. And as I hastily searched for him, it became evident that my baby boy—my little Hunter—had already been taken in.

With the pain of loss heavy on my heart, I struck numerous blows to the United Alliance of Evil's agenda to conquer the universe. I recruited teenagers with skill and heart to combat my battles for me, and empowered them with the ancient magic of the Eltarians, hoping that one day, I would be able to see my planet again.

And then I was presented with such an opportunity. I had been keeping an eye on the battle back on Eltar, as my planet slowly fell under the iron fist of the Chrominites. Dimitria, my beloved wife of the planet Inquiris, was leading the small forces of our planet's soldiers against the Chrominites, attempting fruitlessly to overthrow them. When it became obvious she could not, I made up my mind to switch places with her. I would lead an assault against our sworn enemies, and she would mentor my Rangers.

But I never made it. Hunter Andrew Zeta—now Hunter Bradley—would never know his true family.

**—Dimitria—**

As I headed to Earth to teach my husband's team of Rangers how to trump the forces of evil, I could only hope my daughters, Nike Elizabeth and Andrea Erin, would be okay on a planet under fire. It wasn't until I made it to Earth that I discovered Zordon never made it to Eltar. My heart all but shattered, having realized I had lost my entire family; my son, Hunter Andrew—now growing up somewhere in California—and my husband; my daughters, who were sure to be captured or killed sooner or later, and everything else I cared about.

My only alternative was to hide the Cronus Stone on Earth where the Chrominites could not reach. At least, not any time soon. I would remain a prisoner for years to come, unable to reach out for help or tell my daughters how to survive. I could only hope that they would hear my prayers, feel my bond, and know that some day, I would see them again.

I knew it was foolish to attempt to battle them. They were Gods, so to speak—the celestial negative of the Eltarians. It had all started in the beginning of time, when the bodiless entities known as Ouranos—the Heavens, and Gaia—the Earth, joined in a unity of body and soul that brought forth life. Of their unity came very different castes of children; the atrocious but emotionless Cyclopes and Hecatonchires, the bestial and misunderstood Titans, and the perfect and benign Seraphim. But Ouranos hated the physical atrocity of some of his children, and hid them from Gaia, who became furious at such an act. She convinced Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, to destroy Ouranos's favorite who doted in his heavenly domain – the Seraphim. Then, he was to destroy Ouranos himself.

But Gaia's plan failed. The Adamantine Sickle she'd forged for Cronus could not best the powers of Zeta, Cronus' triplet Seraph brother. Unable to defeat him, Cronus sought out their triplet sister, Omega, and absorbed her life force, destroying her forever. Cronus, now unmatched in power, set out to destroy his father, Ouranos, and then sought out Zeta.

Zeta, the last Seraph, pled with his mother to help him, but when she refused, he went into hiding. Now king of the Titans, Cronus imprisoned the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in a prison known as Tartrus, and began a reign of ruler ship known as the Golden Age.

**—Zeus—**

But my father's reign did not last long. Disgusted with the treachery displayed by Cronus, Gaia, my grandmother, prophesied that he would fall to one of his children should he have any. From the union he formed with his sister, Rhea, came a set of immortals like the world had never seen. As the universe began to form, the rulers of its future began to take shape.

But Cronus, afraid of Gaia's deceitful prophecy, swallowed each of my brothers and sisters as they were born: **Demeter**, **Hera**,** Hades**,** Hestia**,and **Poseidon**. When all was nearly lost, my mother consulted Gaia, who was even more distraught over the situation than she had been before.

What she did changed the universe forever. Working with her only other living son, the last Seraph, Zeta, she created a stone so powerful it required the sacrifice of Zeta's godhood. He sliced off his wings, created a seal on the stone, and urged me to use it to imprison Cronus forever so that I could rule over the Gods and the universe.

Rhea, my mother, then faked labor and wrapped the stone in clothes, handing it to Cronus to devour. As it entered him, it drew from all his elemental powers and forced up all five of my siblings and itself. Zeta took his chance and intervened, using the stone to grant my siblings and I power, where we would henceforth be known as Olympians. As I had conquered Cronus, I would act as supreme ruler over the skies, thunder, and lightning. My sister and future wife, Hera, was granted the power of Unity from the stone. Meanwhile, my older brother, Poseidon, was given control over the seas, Demeter became Goddess of the Earth's harvest and life, Hestia earned the power of the home and spirit, and Hades received the underworld and death as his power.

This all-powerful stone became known as **The Cronus Stone**.

We freed all the titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatonchires to help us defeat my father, but it was Zeta who delivered the final blow. In a cataclysmic battle resulting in his near death, the wingless Seraph swore his son would one day avenge him. On his dying breath, he sealed Cronus away and cast the stone far out of our own reach, claiming to have detected the malice in my heart. From then on, I renounced any Seraph descendant, cursing them with the name, "Wingless-One":_**Eltaryan**__._

**—Zeta—**

Zeus was furious at my judgment of him, as he felt betrayed and less powerful without the stone I'd forged with Gaia. Cronus, with a final vengeful blow, imprisoned me in a prison of magic I could not bend—something he called a futuristic energy known as a "digital" domain.

From my dimensional prison, I watched as my predictions of Zeus came true. He led a crusade against his own grandparents—the ancient Titans I called my brothers and sisters. One by one, he had them thrown into Tartarus in a colossal battle known as the Titanomachy. He eventually locked away 14 different titans: his own mother, **Rhea**; **Okeanos, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Koios, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Themis, Krios, **and** Iapetos **and his sons **Atlas, Epimethius, **and** Promethius. **Very few titans were spared, except those cowardly enough to denounce their superior power of him and pledging to serve him for eternity: of these were the sons and daughter of my brother, Hyperion: **Eos, Helios, **and **Selene.**

But as Zeus spent years capturing the Titans, his hated _Eltaryans_ grew in number, for my godlike blood overpowered nearly all other bloods, leaving my lineage undiluted. **Zordon**, my eldest, carried on my legacy as he established a planet called Eltar, where he kept the Cronus Stone safe from what the Eltarians had come to call "the _Kromynitap_," or "Chrominites." Roughly translated, their term meant "Descendants of Cronus."

Unbelievably, peace reigned for quite some time. With my son growing more powerful each day, an anti-Chrominite barrier was erected around the 3rd dimension. This wall of energy lasted thousands of years until the rise of the United Alliance of Evil nearly 10,000 years later. It came to Zordon's attention that Zeus's energy was somehow getting through, being reincarnated through sacrificial and demonic rituals that invoked the very spirit of the God of the Heavens. Once the barrier began to crack, under the influence of **Dark Specter**, the Chrominites pushed, influencing a horde of events.

Now the barrier has been shattered, its weakened state unable to continue the struggle against the Chrominite powers. The malevolent band of warriors is making their way toward Earth, even as I warn you. They have been scouring the entire 3rd dimension, sniffing out the Cronus stone one corner of the galaxy at a time. They have grown in size, having had years to copulate and reinforce their army; you must know the face of your enemies, including the original 6. They are divided by their ever-present castes, proving superiority over one another. Learn them well.

The Olympians: **Zeus**, the God of the gods and lord of the heavens; **Hera**, the goddess of unity and queen of the gods; **Poseidon**, God of the Seas; **Demeter**, the Goddess of Earth and Life; **Hestia**, the Goddess of the Home and Spirit; **Aphrodite**, the Goddess of Love**, Apollo**, God of the Sun; **Ares**,the God of War; **Artemis**, the Goddess of Nature; **Athena**, the Goddess of Wisdom; **Hermes**, the God of Guidance; and **Hephaestus**, the God of masonry.

A second, lesser-known group of Chrominites were the Omagnas, which were ruled by **Hades, **God of Death and comprised of misfit Gods like **Dionysus**, the God of Ecstasy; **Helios**, the Titan-god of the Sun; **Eos**, Titan-god of the Dawn; **Selene**, Titan-goddess of the Moon; and the Infernal Demon God, **Belial**.

Not only will they find the Cronus Stone, they will use it to free and control Cronus to usher in a new Golden Age. I cannot stop him again; however, my prophecy holds power yet, for I swore on my very life—the very slim remainder of my godhood—that an awesome force made from the opposites of the celestial spectrum would bring balance to the universe once more as Saviors of the Stone.

—**Annotated Log: 00:01:32 GMT 07/16/3047—**

"_Warriors once touched by Power  
Live in its embrace eternally  
Yet few remain in the final hour  
To now Release Nature's Fury."_

_ To whosoever finds this accumulation of records; please use this wisely. Under the Universal Temporal Laws, I am not allowed to disclose this information. But maybe you can save us from this terror. Because your prophecy failed. And the universe failed. And quite frankly, there isn't much left to save here. I have gathered the journal entries of the most prominent figures in history, going back in time to speak with each of them. One of them has got to make a difference. Somehow. So, do what it says; Release Nature's Fury._

_**Power Rangers: Nature's Fury**_


	2. Natural Fury, Part I

_**Disclaimer**_**  
**

_I do not own _Power Rangers_, nor do I own any likenesses to the characters involved in the aforementioned work, for they are copyrighted and trademarked properties of their sole proprietors and their partnered companies. Any likenesses to the characters or characters not previously or futuristically mentioned are expressly property of the author, as are interwoven ideas further mentioned in domains outside of the _Power Rangers _registered copyrights. This story is purely fictional, nonprofit-based and intended, and for entertainment purposes solely._

_**Chapter II—Natural Fury, Part I**_

Spring wind, crisp as could possibly be expected at Lower California University, brushed through the hair of Wesley Collins. He was an ex-Silver Guardians of the highest rank, and his steady, yet upbeat gait, gave way to his cheery outlook on this new portion of his life. A new start. A new life. A real life. He could finally get that engineering degree he'd always thought of getting just for his dad.

He stepped over the threshold of his dormitory, now used to the somewhat dank smell of four males.

"Yo, Johnny, Drake, Brad!" he called out festively, dropping his bag at the small kitchen table.

No answer came.

"Guuuuys," he said in a sing-song fashion, noting the static-ridden TV and the spilled can of soda near the couch, His old ranger instincts began to tingle at the back of his neck, lighting the hairs then on end and causing his stomach to go tight.

He turned off the TV and listened intently, opening the last of the doors in the fifth story condo-style dorm. Then he heard it. A small whirring sound just out of earshot.

"Guys?"

As if on command, a small, spherical object shattered through the window and landed in the middle of the floor. Its pitch was increasing noticeably and rapidly. Without a glance, Wes was through the other window and hurtling through the air. He coughed as he smashed into the ground, feeling his two lower ribs crack in protest. As his vision flickered and stuttered with haze, he could faintly make out a delayed shockwave before fading out entirely.

**—II—**

"See ya later, Kelly" the brunet employee called over his shoulder as he dug his car keys out.

Kelly, the owner of the action sports store known as Storm Chargers, waved in response as she bid Dustin Brooks farewell.

Before the young ninja master could even get his keys to the door of his car, the ground on which he stood began to tremble profusely. He looked around as he tried to keep himself up, and managed to stumble toward his work place. The second he did, a large portal roughly the size of an Olympic pool appeared in the sky, sucking Storm Chargers in and the surrounding empty cars.

"Kelly!" Dustin yelled after the small building, rooting himself to the ground with his Earth Ninja powers.

Just as the portal began to close, Dustin attempted to sprint toward it helplessly. When he spun around in defeat, he glanced into the horizon at the mountain range hiding his ninja school where large masses of rocks and earth were being slurped up into a massive energy portal.

"No…" he mumbled.

The mountains were _gone_.

And the Thunder Ninja Academy? He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Hunter were there. With no other plan, Dustin began to Ninja Streak absently, not knowing where to go. He found himself all the way in Mariner Bay.

—**II—**

SPD was known for being a herald of good traits, even in the year 2028. Sky Tate made it his goal to embody those traits, and after being promoted to Commander of the SPD Earth Division…well, he was quite law-abiding. With his new team of cadets, complete with an experimental Nova Ranger, Sky was confident in the safety of New Tech City; Both Z and Syd had been promoted—Z being Blue Ranger and Syd moving up to Green—several promising cadets had tagged along as Yellow and Pink, and Bridge? Well…Bridge had been promoted to Red Ranger, unbelievably.

But Sky's red ranger had been acting increasingly strange since his last mission, especially after Skylar, the teams Nova Ranger, had almost been injured. When the commander had finally asked Bridge about it, the Red Ranger simply requested Sky's presence at a café to talk things over.

Naturally, he'd eagerly accepted.

So here he was, 12:30 on the dot, leaving his post at SPD on a lunch break to meet his spastic red ranger.

Not more than 100 feet from the enormous SPD academy, though, Sky felt a powerful force pulling him back. As he pivoted around in confusion, he saw a large, blue vortex sucking SPD into the ground.

"NO!" Sky shouted after the academy's retreating figure. He jumped fruitlessly, diving for the swirling vortex that disappeared like a drain.

He slumped down…defeated. That was when his communicator chimed.

"Commander Tate, go ahead!" he ordered.

"Sky, what happened? I just got this _horrible _feeling," Bridge said.

"Bridge…SPD is…SPD's gone…" Sky said.

-II-

"Zhane, I'm sorry, but I'm really busy," the Kerovan female known as Karone said sadly.

"Fine, fine," the former Silver Space Ranger, Zhane Helix, replied just as dismally. "I'll catch you later."

He had only wanted Karone to attend Leo's birthday party with him, especially since Karone and Leo were old friends; right? Sighing, Zhane ran his hand through his freshly-cut blond hair and boarded his transport—a Galaxy Glider like vehicle known as a "Jet-Board."

He kicked off the ground, feeling it hum to life and float, and leaned forward to accelerate. He'd just picked up speed when his stabilizer reported massive seismic activity and an unstable energy reading just a few miles north. Right where Leo was. Frantically, Zhane tried to break, but was tossed right off his footing.

"Ah man!" he groaned loudly. "Damn Miranoi and their damn earthquakes!"

But it wasn't just an earthquake. He could see a large swirl in the sky that seemed to be sucking up everything in sight. And it was moving right toward the new Astro Megaship he had built with a bunch of friends.

He flipped his board over hastily, pulling his cell phone out as he did so, and praying against hope he could get in touch with Leo before the young man was obliterated by some monstrosity of a wormhole.

—**II—**

Leo had always heard birthdays were supposed to be special. Yet somehow, he didn't think that meant they were supposed to be special as in something insanely freakish happened. He couldn't wrap his head around how he'd gone from getting ready for his party with his brother, Mike, to sitting next to Zhane Helix as Deca shouted off the worrying statistics of the planet.

He remembered he and Mike had arrived back at the Astro Megaship II, a giant red ship shaped in the form of the Delta Megaship with no transformation abilities and a much higher Mega Rush Accelerator. They'd gone into their quarters, they'd begun getting ready, and then, out of nowhere, the entire planet was shaking. And Zhane was on the phone yelling in some crazed and frantic manner that he hardly understood..

"Dude, are you listening," Zhane demanded, glaring at Leo's dazed state. "Focus on what Deca's saying!"

"Sorry! Sorry. I'm just kind of…in shock," Leo muttered.

"The planet is being directed to an unknown gravitational pull. It is advised that we lift off immediately. For your safety I have secured all engines and pre-lift off is initiated," DECA chirped in her usual calm tone.

"Wait, what?" Zhane wondered, dumbfounded.

"No! Wait!" Leo yelled, scrambling to his feet. "Where is Mike?"

"I am unable to detect his presence on the ship. I have initiated lift off sequence."

The ship rocked as it began to build its engines, causing Leo to sway as he reached a window. Outside, he could see the trees swaying, cars flying, jet boards tumbling, but no Mike. Once again, Leo had lost his brother.

—**II—**

Her strawberry blonde hair a blaze in the wind, the young girl floored her gas and merged onto the highway. Freedom from high school was still just a rush of adrenaline through her veins, pumping into her body like some sort of new drug. She rummaged through her visor as her friends laughed loudly in her passenger and rear-passenger seats.

"This news report is mega lame, dude; hurry up with the tunes," her friend Jake complained, pulling down his sunglasses.

Andrea started to laugh before she heard the report more clearly.

"Enormous unstable vortexes have been appearing all around the galaxy. On Miranoi, the Terra Venture leaders report that similar vortexes have sporadically occurred, as well as anonymous gravitational fluxes around the planet's axis. So far, Captain Mitchell of Lightspeed and his science crew have not yet been able to determine a source or a way to stop the portal activity. President Sunday has learned that the safest places are moving objects and suggests that you remain moving until further notice. This has been a breaking report, brought to you by news 7."

Andrea slammed her foot on the brake as she took the nearest exit to return home.

"Whoa, dude, what's going on?" screeched a female from the backseat.

"The end of the fucking world is what it sounds like," Andrea snapped.

—**II—**

"Okay, so you're telling me this old thing is going to take us back 20 minutes so we can warn everyone in SPD to evacuate?" Bridge questioned.

"Unless you've got any better ideas," Sky answered.

The red ranger shrugged as he watched Sky set up the last protocols for the aged device.

"And you're sure this is going to work because…?" Bridge let his question trail off.

"Look, this is technology from the future; my dad had it from when Time Force came back in time. If this is future technology, it has to work."

"Well, how do you know it'll have enough energy to get us back?"

"If we were jumping back in years, then that'd be a different story; but we're going less than half-hour. We'll have plenty of energy left."

"Good, because I flossed this morning, but only before breakfast, and I forgot to do it afterwards; so, I think I have a piece of toast stuck between my teeth. So maybe I could tell me to floss _after _breakfast and then—"

"Bridge!" Sky shouted sharply.

"Sorry."

Sky was about to walk through but Bridge asked, "What about the criminals? And…that guy we were chasing before…he was so powerful."

"We can worry about him when we go back in 20 minutes," Sky snapped back.

Bridge shrugged, but followed Sky.

The males stepped through the reddish holographic portal. Neither of them saw the chronometer reading "Destination Point: 20 years."

—**II—**

Nike Zeta ran her fingers along the worn paper in front of her. The source of her hope over all these years had been this faded and torn piece of paper that _could _have been from the future, or _could _have been a lie.

Nonetheless, it had helped so far. She and her sister, Andrea Zeta, had survived the siege of Eltar and taken refuge on Earth. They'd been lost, confused, and scared shitless. Nike, the oldest out of her and her sister, was hardly in any state to seek out friends or foes. She had no one to trust. No one to run to.

So they did it on their own. Nike's superior Eltarian intellect had led to an easy school life, and when she and Andrea hacked themselves a few million dollars from the Federal Government, they created identities, forged signatures on a house, and set up life. She'd double majored in Biological Psychology and Human Anatomy and Physiology, and then minored in Technical Engineering. Andrea had just graduated high school, but she already had enough college credits to deem her a sophomore.

But the earthly accomplishments meant nothing to either of them. They were what most would call "true Eltarians." From their very hair fibers was the DNA of the two most powerful spell-casters ever to bless the universe. Their father, Zordon, had sacrificed himself in an attempt to destroy all evil. Not only did he fail to get half the evil, but he failed to get the _greatest _evil. Their mother, Dimitria, had been held prisoner—or killed—by the Chrominites ever since they could remember.

And for as long as Nike could remember, she'd been running—running from them. But here was where it stopped.

Subconsciously, she gripped the piece of paper in her hand as she thought of the miraculous mythological feats she'd conquered. She'd found the legendary Cronus Stone, she'd used her Eltarian genius and, unknowingly, her celestial ties to the very titan Cronus himself, to access the elemental powers buried deep within the great stone.

She'd designed 11 specific Morphers for the predestined rangers—more specifically, 8 for them, and 3 for her siblings and her. The only setback was that she had yet to modify the Morphers so she and her brother and sister could use them. It was like Cronus had known this would happen, and as a final testament to his egotism, he kept the morphers from interacting positively with Eltarians and their psychic powers.

She sighed as she looked over the glistening jewels carved from the Cronus Stone. Her computer was beeping "unfound" in the corner as it attempted to look for the lost Cronus Shard, but she could hardly worry about it. She let her excitement take over. She had finally finished the Elemorphers.

And then her excitement turned to a cold chill as she heard faint _thuds_ on her rooftop.

—**II—**

"I really don't know how to tell you this. I mean, I do, there's a simple way…but, I'm not sure how you'll react," Ryan Mitchell stuttered.

Carter stared blankly, then cracked a grin. "Ryan, it's not like you're telling me you're dying. C'mon, how hard can it be?" he paused a moment, "You're _not _dying, are you?"

Ryan laughed. "No, I'm not dying…it's just that…it's a really difficult thing and—"

Sirens cut him off as audible frenzy could be heard. The two rangers grabbed their jackets and jumped in their hummer, ready for action. As they sped toward the commotion, both pairs of eyes focused on the swirling matter above them, that drifted toward the water where…

"The Aqua Base!" Carter yelled, as he saw giant masses of water undulating away from the aqua base.

Eventually, the entire mass of metal, steel, glass, and materials that made up the aqua base, were sucked up into the cloud of blue.

"What the _fuck _was that!" Ryan screamed as the last of the base entered the portal and the water began to crash back into place.

"Everyone…they're gone…" Carter breathed slowly.

"What do we do?" Ryan wondered.

"Find Tommy," Carter said.

—**II—**

Dustin skidded to a halt as he became exhausted, exhaling and inhaling deeply and slowly. Gradually, he began to stumble down the deserted street. Even he knew it should have been far more populated.

"Tell me the portal didn't make it all the way here," he said to himself.

His eyes came upon a large crater in the ground where he was pretty sure an entire university campus was supposed to be.

"Whoa…no way…those portals took up the University?"

He gaped in awe, but his eyes diverted to a form not far away. Dustin's eyebrows furrowed as he began to walk towards the male body.

"Hey…dude…you okay?" Dustin asked.

"Who…who are you?" Wes wondered through his spastic breathing and blurry vision.

—**II—**

The megaship rocked as it settled down in the NASADA hanger where its counterpart lay.

"Why this place?" Zhane asked.

"You know of any other places you can land a big red spaceship the size of a football field?" Leo asked wryly.

"Good point," Zhane nodded.

"Here, let's check and see if there are any jet boards available," Leo recommended.

Zhane nodded again as he followed the now powerless Galaxy Ranger to the docking bay. To their amazement, three boards lay dormant in the docking bay.

"Alright, so game plan is to get a hold of Tommy. If we can find him, I'm sure he'll be rallying all the rangers together," Leo rattled off as he strapped up to his Jet-Board.

"Tommy?"

"Dude, he's only one of the most legendary rangers _ever_!"

"Psh…whatever. I bet he didn't save the universe like Andros did," Zhane shot back.

"Well…something like that" Leo said.

They began to throttle up the boards when Zhane paused.

"Think we should bring the other one?"

"For what?"

"In case one of ours runs out of fuel or something?"

"Why not?" Leo shrugged.

Zhane attached the boards together with a latch before they took off through Angel grove.

—**II—**

"Somehow…I don't think this is 20 minutes earlier…" Bridge said slowly.

Sky looked around. He was standing atop a suburban, 2 story house. The house itself was nice; firm structure, perfect white paint, immaculate shutters, pristine gutters, impeccable chimney…wait…where the hell were they?

"Yeah…me either…" Sky replied.

He looked at the chronometer on the machine.

"Date: April 7th, 2008."

"Oh…no…" Sky whispered.

"What?"

"We didn't go back 20 minutes…we went back 20 years!"

"Hey!" a woman shouted through a window a few feet under them. "What the hell do you think you're doing on top of my house?"

"Uh…sorry ma'am…we uh…um…"

"Wait…SPD…" she whispered, half to herself.

"How does she know about SPD?" Sky mumbled to Bridge.

"Maybe she's time-stuck?" he asked, referring to the fact that she may have time warped without a way to return.

"I'm not 'time-stuck.' Get off my roof!" she hollered up to them.

Sky looked around. "Um…how?"

"The window."

Bridge shrugged and scooted down, then slipped through the window. He was followed closely by his commander.

—**II—**

"Stop!" Ryan shouted as they came across a giant basin where Lower California University once stood.

"Wasn't this LCU?" Carter demanded.

"Was…" Ryan answered slowly.

"Look, survivors!" Carter pointed out.

Dustin waved his hand in the air as he saw the yellow hummer cruising his way.

He heaved the unconscious male up until the other two men arrived and helped him load him into their vehicle.

"I'm so glad you guys showed up when you did," Dustin said thankfully, shaking their hands and introducing himself as they buckled up in the truck.

"I'm Carter, and this is Ryan."

"Are you guys, like, police?" Dustin asked as he eyed their jackets.

"We're with Lightspeed Rescue. We're power rangers," Ryan answered with a faint smile.

"Oh, _dude_! No way!" Dustin practically yelled.

"That's a first-time reaction," Carter laughed.

"No, no!" Dustin cleared up. "I _mean_…I'm a ranger, too. I'm the Yellow Wind Ranger!"

Ryan and Carter exchanged looks as Carter eased the brake. Each looked back in amazement at Dustin, then, their eyes shifted to Wes, who Carter then recognized.

"Ryan…isn't that…?"

"Wes! Time Force red!"

"This is just too weird," Dustin sighed.


	3. Natural Fury, Part II

_**Chapter III—Natural Fury, Part II**_

Nike got herself acquainted with the two SPD boys by debriefing them. Their mission was clear; stop the portals.

"What exactly are those portals?" Sky asked.

"My theory is that they're energy portals that feed on high masses of power," Bridge ventured.

"Close, but no cigar," Nike replied as she walked over to the large computer screen.

She had learned from the best, and from them, she was able to build a small base of operations under her basement. It consisted of several computer consoles, a super computer, a city scanner, a communications array, and a small teleportation system capable of teleporting within a 70-mile radius.

Nike brought up an image of the portals, "They're Temporal Teleportation Portals, used to teleport large masses to a designated, undetectable area. No one has ever developed this kind of technology here on earth because of their destructivity. They're fairly simple devices, but highly useful, and very risky."

"Well, who's using them?" Sky demanded as he watched the screen.

"The Chrominites…which in your language, is pretty much 'Gods.'"

"Our language?" Bridge caught on.

"The word is of ancient Eltarian text, and I refer to English as your language because it's not my first language."

"You're Xeno?" Sky and Bridge chorused.

She took a deep breath and prayed to Zeta that she was doing the right thing. "I'm an Eltarian Princess. My name is Nike Zeta, probably should've told you that in the first place," she explained, walking briskly to the morphers and pulling off the white sheet dramatically.

"What are those shiny things?" Bridge questioned as he followed her.

"These are your new Elemorphers. They are forged from pieces of the Cronus Stone and control an aspect of Nature."

Sky chuckled, "Look, we're not here to play your little games. We already _have_ morphers; we're _SPD_," he reminded her.

She raised an eyebrow in pure amusement. "Well, let's see how your morphers work. Go on, try to morph. It should be hilarious watching you get your asses kicked by the Chrominites."

Bridge turned to her. "I'm up for it."

"Bridge! You know we're not allowed to do that! SPD regulations; we are not allowed to be members of any other Ranger Team unless given permission from SPD. Even I can't authorize that!"

"Oh, so would you like me to ring up your high commanders? I'm _sure_ the Chrominites would let me talk to them for you," Nike said, her patience growing thinner and thinner.

Sky looked torn. With a final glance at the shining Elemorphers, he agreed.

Nike nodded, leading them over to cylindrical tubes, color-coded and numbered.

"Sky, lay down in this tube; Bridge, you go to that one," Nike instructed. "And…I'm gonna need you both to strip," she added.

Sky's eyes widened. "What?"

"Don't worry, these tubes are completely opaque. The Morpher attaches itself to your cerebrum and then dispatches energy through your entire body. If you kept the clothes on, there's a risk of a current getting stuck in your clothes and you not having power while your pants go play superhero."

"But wait, I'm the Red Ranger," Bridge said, motioning towards Sky's tube.

"Not anymore; now, please, we don't have much time. Take the Yellow One."

Bridge shrugged and closed the tube. Getting undressed while lying down proved seriously difficult, but they managed, and then tossed their clothes out from spaces they'd allowed to open.

"You're about to get very, _very _tired," she warned.

Sky and Bridge both blinked exactly 5 times before falling into a deep slumber.

—**III—**

"So, where are we going?" Dustin asked.

"To Reefside. We're looking for Dr. Oliver," Carter explained.

"Oh, that dude. He's pretty cool, and crazy-smart. I'm sure he'll be able to hel—" he was cut off as two surfboard-like figures flew over the hummer at insane speeds.

"Jet-boards? Outside of NASADA?" Carter asked Ryan.

Ryan returned the look of curiosity.

Without hesitation, Carter floored the gas, catching up to the boards. "Pull over!"

At first glance, it didn't seem they would stop, but when looking again, Ryan saw them slow and their boards land softly.

"Leo!" Carter mused.

"Carter! Good to see you man!" Leo greeted, meeting in a handshake.

"More rangers?" Dustin enthused.

"We were on our way to Reefside to find Tommy, is that where you're headed?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, but the highways are all blocked. We decided to take the city route through Angel Grove."

Zhane opened his mouth to answer, but his jaw dropped when a woman slowed her car to a stop and stepped. To say she was stunning would have left Zhane with a whole list of adjectives he still would have been dying to use. She had flowing reddish blond hair that hung around her face in defined layers, and swept back around her shoulders. Her blazing green eyes gazed out from her perfectly unblemished creamy skin, locking onto each of the rangers in turn before settling on one of them.

"Carter Grayson?" she asked.

Carter nodded, trying his best to keep his attention on her face.

From about five-foot, four-inches, Andrea gazed up at the man in almost intimidating manner.

"My name is Andrea, I'd disclose more information if I didn't think it'd get us all killed. I need you to come with me."

They all stared in disbelief.

"As in now."

"What exactly can you offer us that could be more valuable than information from Tommy?" Carter demanded.

"Life," she retorted as she jumped over her driver door and into the seat, revving her engine.

"I think I'm in love," Zhane mumbled.

"Try to keep it in your pants, dude," Dustin said, patting Zhane on the back as he hopped in the hummer.

"You gotta admit," Ryan said as he also buckled up, still staring at Carter's surprised face, "she's got style."

Leo and Zhane boarded their jet boards, while Carter climbed back into the hummer, and they were off.

—**III—**

Hunter panted as he came out of his Ninja Streak, landing roughly in the woods. He looked around, the scene not so welcoming. He could hear mayhem not far back, and could still hear the explosions the portals were causing.

_ "I know Tommy lives around here __**somewhere**__…" _he thought to himself.

He began to walk at a normal pace, looking around until his gaze fell on a quaint little house positioned in the middle of nowhere.

"That's gotta be it," he said aloud.

Making his way up to the house, he knocked on the door, half expecting to be greeted by rangers of every sort.

Tommy opened the door, a newspaper in one hand and coffee mug in the other. He was wearing a black bathrobe. Not exactly the Ranger militia Hunter was expecting.

"Hunter," Tommy said, his shocked tone unmasked, "What're you doing here?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" Hunter responded.

"Heard what?"

Hunter shook his head and barged in, making his way to the living room where he turned on the TV. There was no need to change the channel, it was on every one.

Tommy looked horrified. He'd never seen the earth in such bad condition. It was the first time someone had thought _not_ to attack one city.

"What…is that?" Tommy asked, dropping his newspaper, and almost doing the same with his coffee.

"I was hoping you could tell me…" Hunter said back.

—**III—**

Andrea pulled into her driveway and waited for the others to follow suit. His hummer being too large, Carter merely parked the vehicle on the side of the street, and then jumped out with the others to follow her.

"Um, guys, a little help?" Dustin asked as he tried to pick Wes up.

"Oh…yeah…"Carter replied as he noticed the still unconscious Ranger.

Carter and Dustin managed to haul him to the door, where Andrea stood. She opened it with an odd key and welcomed them to her homely house.

"Nice place," Zhane commented.

"We can discuss that later," she said curtly as she headed for the basement door.

Zhane and Leo exchanged looks, but followed the others down the flight of stairs.

She looked over her shoulder, almost as if she were counting them. Then, she turned back to the large metal door she was standing at, and inserted something. Seconds later, the door opened and they were sucked in to an underground bunker of sorts.

"Dude…you make Cam look like a caveman," Dustin noted.

Andrea smirked. "I know, right?"

Zhane rolled his eyes. How was it that the airhead could make progress where he couldn't?

"Anyway, that's not the point," Nike's voice came out as she emerged from her work in another room.

"Whoa…" Zhane said, his jaw going slack yet again.

"Who…is that?" Leo whispered.

"No…i…dea…"

The two women spoke quickly and quietly before looking back at the group of rangers.

"I'm Nike," she said shortly, "this is my sister Andrea. Look, I really don't have time to explain _everything_ to you, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, but you've got to just trust me."  
The rangers exchanged looks.

"Okay…so I guess I need to explain," she sighed as she walked over to her computer. "The Chrominites are a band of dimensional and universal warriors. We've been at war with them for years—nearly 10,000 years, really."

"Wait, who's we?" asked Ryan.

"The Planet Eltar. The inhabitants were sworn enemies of the Chrominites."

"Zordon's home planet?" Zhane questioned.

"One in the same," Andrea replied.

"How do you know all this?"

"Because," Nike interrupted, "we are the only heirs to the Eltarian Throne. We are the Lost Children of Zordon."

"Whoa," Zhane gaped, nearly stumbling backwards.

"We need your help," Andrea pressed on. "We can't fight the Chrominites; not yet, anyway. My sister and I have used the Cronus Stone of Greek Mythology to fuel morphers with the power of Nature. And we need you to pilot them."

"Count me in!" Dustin said eagerly, letting all of Wes' weight fall onto Carter.

"Ah!" Carter gasped, causing Dustin to grab the arm he dropped, and prop Wes up again.

"You guys?" Andrea asked.

"If it means I get to work with you, then definitely," Zhane shot back.

She let out a harsh laugh. "Don't' go there, pretty boy."

"Pretty boy?"

"Are you in, or out?" Nike asked pointedly.

"I'm in."

"Me too," Leo said, followed by Ryan and a reluctant Carter.

"Guess he doesn't really have a choice, huh?" Dustin asked, looking down at Wes.

"Not really, no," Nike responded as she led them to more tubes. There were five unoccupied.

"What are these?" Dustin asked.

"Energy tubes. Your Morpher Energy will be put into you through them. Get inside the tubes, strip, and be ready for a quick nap," said Nike.

The rangers all looked at each other, and then shrugged as they began to undress

"NO! No! No…not right here. Get in the tube and strip; I don't wanna see all that!" Andrea yelled.

The males stopped, some exchanging laughter as they were directed to their respective energy tubes.

"Ah, Titanium, this one's mine," Ryan commented, walking towards the Silver one.

"No, that's Silver and it's Dustin's," Nike informed him, pulling him to the brown one, "This is yours."

"Sweet! What about him?" Dustin asked, noting Wes.

"We'll take care of him," Andrea said glumly as they began to undress his sleeping form.

"This is _so_ wrong…" Nike muttered.

—**III—**

"Zeus, all portals have been securely closed. We reportedly have all the rangers, except 13," Hermes, the messenger God spoke. He was a tall man, firmly built and resembling a typical surfer boy with blond hair and turquoise eyes that seemed to reflect a sense of knowledge.

"Then you don't have all the rangers, do you?" Zeus replied quietly, never turning to look at the speaker.

"N-no, sir, we'll get on it."

"No…" Zeus said, his voice still quiet, "Send down the _Infernal _Demon God, let him have some fun."

"Where to, sir?" Hermes asked.

"Test out Angel Grove first…I've been getting odd vibes from there…" then his voice dropped as he growled out, "**Eltarian** vibes."

"You don't think…" Hermes began.

"I do," Zeus cut him off, "Now go. I must inform Cronus of this news."

Hermes bowed, swishing out of the room in a fluid fashion. As he made his way to the Infernal God's area of Mount Imperious, he could only hope his father's plans of a quick victory over Earth worked as well as they were supposed to.


	4. Natural Fury, Part III

_**Chapter IV—Natural Fury, Part III**_

Colors of all sorts filled the basement bunker before they finally died down into a residual energy around their respective tubes. Groggily, the chosen rangers began to awaken.

"How do you all feel?" Nike asked.

"Naked," Wes stated bluntly.

"Here," Andrea said, passing out clothes.

"What happened to my clothes?" Carter asked.

"Oh, we put them away. You'll be needing color-matching outfits so that your morphers can recharge themselves while inactive," explained Nike.

Carter looked at the clothes that were handed through the space he'd opened**—**a grey t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Grey?" he asked skeptically. "Is that supposed to be a pun?"

"What?" Nike and Andrea chorused.

"His last name is Grayson. Was that intentional?" Ryan asked as he slipped into his khaki shorts.

"No," Andrea responded, returning to the computer. Her timing could not have been better, for as soon as she sat, the monitor began to beep.

"What's going on?" Bridge asked, having ignored all the new people.

"The Demon God has arrived in the city. He's looking for you guys and the stones. You've got to stop him," Andrea said.

"What stones?" Wes demanded.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we don't have time for questions. I'll fill you in on your morphers and how to use them on the way," Nike ordered.

"On the way?" Dustin questioned.

"Yes, on the way," Andrea snapped pressing a button.

Flashes of color, 8 to be exact, filled the room, and they were teleported away.

"So do you really think it was intentional that Carter became the Grey Ranger?" Andrea asked her sister after they'd gone.

"He was meant to be Grey…but I didn't think it had anything to do with his last name until now."

—**IV—**

The rangers landed softly, checking out their surroundings.

"This is downtown Angel Grove," Zhane mused.

"What…is going on?" Wes asked slowly, looking down at his white and gold striped shirt.

"We found you at LCU. It's been teleported to some unknown location. It's a really long story," Ryan started to answer.

"And the short version is that bad guys are attacking, we're power rangers with new powers, and we have to stop them," Dustin finished.

"So where exactly are these morphers, because I don't see them," Wes said, after thinking for a few moments.

"She said they were in our minds…how are we supposed to use them?" Zhane wondered.

"Rangers, can you hear me?" Nike's voice came.

"We can hear you…but…I have no clue where you are," Wes answered, not sure where to talk.

"I'm speaking with you in your mind; no one can hear me but you 8."

The rangers slowly stopped looking around, unsure of where to look now that they knew she was in their heads.

"Listen," she was saying, "your morphers are implanted in your cerebral structure. They run off emotions, so all you have to do is _want_ to morph, and say "Nature's Fury, Release From in Me."

"Hey, that's kinda catchy," Dustin laughed.

"You!" A gruff voice called.

The rangers spun around to come face to face with a demonic looking male. From his back sprang two black-and-red leathery wings, matching his barbaric armor perfectly. Even at this distance, the rangers could see the red horns protruding from his forehead, and atop his head was a large green Mohawk that seemed oddly unfitting.

"Who is that freak?" Sky whispered.

"That's Belial, the Infernal God of Demons. I have no idea why he's working with the Olympian Chrominites, but you shouldn't underestimate him," Nike informed them.

"Don't worry about that…I think I'm plenty scared enough of him," Dustin commented as he backed away some.

"We need to morph," Zhane said.

"Wait!" Sky called, stopping Zhane. "Let's try bringing this guy in peacefully, first." He stepped forward and stared the demon down. "You have been accused of mass destruction on several planets, destruction of property, and kidnapping on a temporal scale. It is my duty to place you under arrest by SPD."

Belial stared, not flinching.

"Wait, what?" Wes started, "let me handle this. I've worked with Tie Force and I'll send him to the Future with Jen." He diverted his attention to Belial. "You're under arrest by Time Force!"

"SPD!" Bridge argued.

"Time Force is the safest route!"

"Don't you think you're both a little out of your jurisdiction?" Belial finally snarled.

The rangers fell silent as they looked at each other.

"Hand over the stones and surrender, otherwise, I will be forced…to take them from you." He cracked his neck and drew his double-sided axe-staff out of a torrent of flames. "Painfully."

"_Now_, it's time to morph," Wes said.

"Ready?" Sky asked.

"Ready!" They shouted after him, their ranger instincts kicking in.

"NATURE'S FURY, RELEASE FROM IN ME!" they chorused as they simultaneously did the movements.

They stood in Anatomical Position, emblems appearing in their respective colors on the backside of their hands. Next, they extended the number of fingers that corresponded to their numbers. They brought their hands in front of their faces, and then spun their forearms three times around each other; the third time around, they thrust their arms out in an X shape, signaling the start phase of the morph, which began instantly.

Wes was first to suit up. Clouds gathered around him as he floated serenely in the air before claps of thunder echoed around him. He allowed himself to be covered by large Cumulonimbus cloud that shone brightly with golden energy. Eventually it erupted, accompanied by a sonic boom that shook the air around him. His body was covered in a golden suit with a black neck and black gloves, while his pants were also black with golden trimming. On his arms were circlet-like structures, and on his right shoulder was a white portion of the suit with 8 stripes varying different colors. His left shoulder bore a symbol matching the Ancient Rune of Thunder, and his black metallic boots clipped on under his silvery shin guards. Attached to his glove, forming an upside down T-shape, was an energy rod that attached to a circular device in the middle of his hand. From that device were five bands that connected to the metallic pads on his knuckles. His belt clipped closed with two red clips and a Golden orb shape that also held the Thunder Rune, and on his left pectoral was a circle wherein the Thunder symbol, appearing like a circle bordered by two crescents, was emblazoned. He clapped his hands together and sent out a shockwave before his helmet appeared like a swarm of static energy. A lion's muzzle could be made out at the top of Wes's brow, where pieces from the helmet extended down like teeth near Wes's eyes. Two more edges resembling teeth appeared from the bottom. Two more teeth on either side of the of the original two superior edges shot down from inside the helmet, and three square indentations appeared on both sides of the nose of the lion's muzzle above Wes's eyes. Two shining red eyes appeared on the right and left of the helmet where a red line came from each one, creating markings down the sides of the helmet. A mane of red was etched out in metal right above the eyes, and two ears extended outright in the middle of it. Lastly, his visor slid shut as he raised both hands to the sky and clapped them again, summoning the clouds to back him while he posed and called out:

"Zero, Golden Thunder Fury Ranger!"

Sky was next, lasers ricocheting around off invisible barriers and striking him at all different angles until his body glowed a vicious red. He was ensnared in a red field of energy that finally dissipated, leaving Sky clothed in red spandex-like material known as Elespheri, and black pants made of the same material that had a hint of red trimming down the sides. Black gloves with a long red arrow beamed onto his arms where a silver circle shot out a band to attach to each of his first row of knuckles. He spun around while silver shin guards and black boots materialized on his feet as he began to float in midair. A white patch on his right shoulder appeared that was complete with 8 relatively large stripes, each one representing a color of the fury team, and on his left shoulder was a circle bearing an upside-down equilateral triangle flanked by two isosceles—the ancient rune for "Energy." On the left of his chest was another circle that had a symbol very similar to the "power" on modern devices that was etched in bright red. He posed as his body exploded with energy waves, causing massive pillars of energy to shoot up from under him.

"One, Red Energy Fury Ranger!"

For Ryan, the earth surrounded him as rocks flew around like an orbit around him in the center. The brown light emitting from magnetized the rocks to his body, forming a coating of stone. Finally, they shattered away to reveal a skin-tight brown suit on his upper body, fitting black pants on his lower body with brown trim on the in and outside of his legs. Silver guards appeared at his feet, shooting up his shins like shin guards while his boots materialized under them, black in color. His gloves were also black, with a brown armored arrow that extended from the top to the mid-back of his hand, where it attached to a circle. From the circle came give strands of armor that attached to his knuckles and sent energy coursing through his fingers. Finally, his helmet strapped on, silver horns extended from the sides and titanium plates sliding over either side of his helmets lower facial portion. His silver mouthpiece shot up over his mouth and nose while his black visor slid into place.

"Two, Brown Terrestrial Fury Ranger!"

Leo, water swirling around and oceans roaring beneath him, was engulfed in a tidal wave that stuck to his body. It brought a shimmering white light with it that, when washed away, left white Elespheri Spandex, the material of his suit, in its wake. Red trim appeared on his tight black pants, and his red pelvic guard slid into place under his white belt. In the orb in the middle of his belt was the Eltarian Water symbol, and on his left shoulder was the elemental water sigil like all the rangers bore respective to their elements. His helmet splashed onto his face while red spikes reminiscent of fins stabbed through the top of his helmet, raising an inch-and-a-half into the air. Glowing red eyes with eyebrow ridges appeared on either side of his helmet, and after his red mouth guard moved into place, his black visor slammed shut on his helmet.

"Three, White Tidal Fury Ranger!"

Carter stood still in a frozen field, ice crystals shooting from the ground like polar stalagmites until they surrounded him in an icy cage. When he broke free, he was covered in a grey suit and black pants, the grey trim stopping at his boots and shin guards. He lifted each black-gloved-fist, letting the power course through him, and spun around while his helmet materialized like his face was being frozen slowly. Sharp polar bear teeth slid down from the upper portion of the helmet's ocular area and the lower mandibular region of what resembled a bears head. Small ears ejected from the rear sides, and a red mouth guard appeared on his face. Two bright red eyes opened slowly on the sides of the helmet before his visor slipped shut.

"Four, Grey Polar Fury Ranger!"

An enormous star, referred to as a sun, spit balls of plasmatic energy like solar rain at Bridge until he glowed a fiery yellow. Each ball of energy formed slowly into an impervious yellow suit that coated his body, decking his legs out in black pants and yellow trimmings. In the red orb in the middle of his belt, the sigil of the sun burned bright yellow with ferocious power. On his right shoulder, outlined in red, was a strip of white spandex-like material—known as Elespheri on Eltar—where stripes of color representing each fury ranger glowed divinely. A yellow beak protruded slightly off his helmet, three panels like feathers in the back of his helmet also extending his helmet in length and outlined in red appearing as well, while two red eyes shone fiercely on either side. His red mouth guard covered his nose and mouth and his visor sealed firmly. As he floated gracefully, he landed on a raised platform of hardened plasma, calling out:

"Five, Yellow Solar Fury Ranger!"

In an inferno of blue flame was Zhane, the fires crawling up his body until they burst away, revealing a shining blue suit and black pants. His gloves were a little different from others, silver in color with blue bone-like structures on either side that rowed down the glove until the wrist, where two skeletal figures tapered to a short spike. In the middle of his hand was the same circular device on all the rangers' hands, and from it came five silver bands that attached to his knuckles. His helmet was born from licks of flame that left rows of teeth like those of a raptor, and rows of semi-circular and pointed metal panels that extended his helmet a little like ridges. Bright blue eyes like that of the sky were located on the sides of his helmet, and two skeletal ridges stuck out slightly from the sides of his helmet.

"Six, Blue Inferno Fury Ranger!"

Dustin felt the wind currents rush around his body like a whirlwind of energy. They coalesced into an enormous cyclone that eventually hid him from view. When the storm had subsided, his upper body was covered in the silver Elespheri armor. The white strip with the 13 Fury Stripes appeared on his right shoulder, while a circle bearing the Ancient Wind Rune appeared on his right shoulder; another circle, tattooed with the Eltarian Cyclone Sigil, was etched onto his left breast, and in the silver orb on his belt was the ancient rune once more. His gloves, silver in color, appeared like a series of serrated plates with feather-like accents etched in yellow metal that ended in an arrowhead. There were yellow markings of Elespheri around his neck that separated the silver of his suit with the black of the suiting on his neck, and then black pants with silver trimming that ran the length of his legs before being tucked into his boots, which were white in color like his shin guards. Finally, his helmet swirled on in pieces like a tornado, a great silver beak overhanging his ocular region and a yellow mouth guard clicking into place. A horn like structure erected on the front of his helmet, extending back like a fin before giving way to another fin like structure which outlined the bright yellow eyes of the griffin motifs of his helmet. Near the sides of his visor, wing like structures extended back past his helmet, and four holes for ventilation slit down the jaw line of his helmet.

With a cry of resounding anger, Dustin shouted, "Seven, Silver Cyclone Fury Ranger!"

The 8 rangers stood next to each other, colors glaring in the sun. The spandex they were accustomed to wearing on their legs had been replaced by fitting Eltarian Elespheri pants. Each helmet had been customarily designed to fit both the elements and animals of each ranger, and the sleek designs of their suits made agility a problem of the past. If they looked hard enough, they could see the Morphers had adjusted their bodies to physical perfection, decimating any excess body fat, bolstering muscles, and solidifying bones to an almost unbreakable state. Their vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch senses had all been greatly augmented, and their combat skills were all perfectly memorized and programmed into the cerebral morphing structures now implanted on their brains. With poses faster than lightning and unique yet familiar to them all, they brought their energies together as a massive explosion set off behind them.

"Power Rangers: Nature's Fury!"

Belial's face slowly contorted in anger as this unfolded before him. He had not been certain they had the stones until they summoned their powers. Chances were they didn't even know what the stones could do. It would be best for him to summon a few Tri-Gods and a Demigod monster to finish them off quickly. He wouldn't want to risk getting injured; no.

"Very well, rangers," he said, "allow me to even the odds a bit."

He raised his hand from the ground up, and a single, reddish-black bolt of lightning split up from the ground to the sky.

"Hey…dude, isn't lightning supposed to come from the sky and go down to the ground?" Dustin wondered.

"Yeah…it's supposed to," Wes answered as they watched in awe.

Belial suddenly disappeared. Three dozen horned, mouthless, slanty-eyed, hard-skinned demons took his place, followed by an armored figure looming behind them.

"Greetings, rangers; I am Orion, Demigod of the Hunt. And your stones are my prey. Now, will you hand them over?"

"You wanna guess?" Wes asked cockily as the rangers began to slide into a fighting position.

"Get them!" Orion screeched.

The rangers disbanded. Wes jumped up high with ease, holding his hand out as golden energy orbs shot from them.

"Whoa!" he enthused, looking at his black-gloved hands as he landed atop a building.

Sky phased around easily, much like that of a Ninjetti ranger. When he stopped, the attacking Tri-Gods paused, and then slowly fell. Sky looked at them in confusion, then at his hands, which were glowing red. When he looked back at the Tri-Gods, all of them had red holes pierced through their armor.

"Incredible…"

Running up the building, Ryan fired 6-inch rock spikes from his white gloved hands. When he landed, Leo jumped off his shoulders, firing a high-pressured water beam through 4 of the creatures.

"These new powers are amazing!" Leo said.

"I know! It's unlike anything I've ever felt!" Ryan agreed.

Carter brushed past them, spraying a flurry of glowing icicles at a hiding group of Tri-Gods. He touched the ground, freezing a path instantly, and holding the adversaries in place.

"Yellow ranger!" Carter cried out, unable to remember Bridge's name.

Bridge looked up, knowing it was him. Instinctively, though, Dustin turned as well. Shrugging, Bridge looked at Carter.

"Shoot them!" the gray ranger ordered.

Bridge looked at his hands curiously, shrugged again, and stretched them out. Sure enough, yellow solar flares erupted from them, completely disintegrating the tri-gods.

Dustin and Zhane had teamed up to attack Orion together. They were fairing pretty well, but he had sharp blades that extended from his gauntlet and that kept striking them.

"We need some weapons!" Dustin said as they pulled back.

"Use your diamond blades. They're in the side of your belt," Nike's voice rang out inside their heads.

Dustin looked on both sides of his belt.

"Where?"

"Here!" Zhane said, pushing the diamond located on the right side of his belt. Out popped the diamond, which immediately dropped a handle from the bottom, a hilt from the left and right sides, and an extendable blade from the top.

"Suhweet!" Dustin observed as he copied.

Orion's eyes bulged.

In a flash of Silver and Blue, Orion was overcome by Dustin and Zhane.

"How about this! Cyclone blade!" Dustin yelled, flinging a swirling energy chopper from his blade.

It impacted upon Orion, erupting sparks from his gladiator-armored body.

"Pyro blade!" Zhane shouted as well, stabbing forward, and letting a burst of flame fly forward, hitting Orion as well.

He flew backward, smacking his back on a wall, and then landed in a heap.

As the rangers regrouped, admiring their powers, Orion began to stand.

"You…haven't…won…yet," he muttered.

"Use your Fury Weapons and combine them into the Elesphere Javelin," Andrea instructed.

Wes nodded to the others as they called,

"Fury weapons, online!"

"Sonic Lion Lance!" Wes called.

"Tiger Blitz Blade!" Sky followed.

"Gaia Bull Hammer!" Ryan shouted.

"Tidal Fin Trident!" summoned Leo.

"Tundra Bearclaw Saber!" Carter chimed in.

"Solar Phoenix Cannon!" Bridge announced.

"Inferno Raptor Talons!" cried Zhane.

"Wind Arrow-Rapier!" finished Dustin.

Brandishing their weapons, the rangers posed.

"Bring 'em together!" Wes ordered.

They each threw their weapons into the air, Bridge forming the base of the weapon while the rest merely attached to it.

"Elesphere Javelin!" They called out.

Zhane and Dustin were kneeling at the front, while Bridge and Carter were behind them, also kneeling. Standing at that firing position were Sky and Wes, while Ryan and Leo stood on either side of them.

"What is that thing?" Orion squealed.

"FIRE!" the rangers chorused, shooting off the lance, blade, and trident.

In a split second, they disassembled their weapons and posed as Orion's remains blazed behind them.


	5. A Royal Pain

_**Chapter V-A Royal Pain**_

After having explained his predicament to Tommy, and having nowhere else to stay, Tommy had allowed Hunter a temporary guest pass, so to speak. But after two weeks, Hunter had discovered the Wind Ninja Academy had been absorbed, too, along with the major bases of any Ranger team known to exist. Most disturbingly, Tommy had yet to hear anything from his informants, but assured Hunter all would be fine. It appeared his temporary living arrangements were being extenuated.

Hunter sighed as he laid back on the bed, having just finished a routine Ninja Drill. Normally he wouldn't have been so tired, but the dreams had been getting to him. He'd been having them over and over again, until they'd gotten so strong, he tried staying up to prevent them.

He pulled out his phone and contemplated dialing someone yet again. Tommy had strictly instructed him not to call anyone until things could be figured out, since the Chrominites would easily trace the phone call back to him and pinpoint his location. Despite the arguments Hunter had raised, he knew Tommy was right. So, in frustration, he threw the phone down again. Maybe he needed a walk to clear his head? Training certainly didn't help, but maybe a walk through the woods and time to admire his settings and surroundings would give him the tranquility he needed.

With his mind made up, he sat up from the bed and made his way outside. He wasn't far through the forest when the headache hit him again. He'd been having them so frequently that he'd almost learned to ignore them…until the strange images started playing through his mind. He stopped abruptly as he pushed forcibly on his temples, screaming in pain as the images flashed blazed through his mind. Dustin, people he didn't know, monsters, rangers, Zords, a blond girl, pain…anguish…and then nothing but blackness. Deep, dark, despairing…yet soothing blackness. He crumpled to the ground, his body and mind exhausted, and he felt he could faintly hear someone calling out to him. "Son…son…son…"

—**V—**

"Trip to the barber shop, c'mon!" Andrea yelled throughout the quiet house.

She knew all 8 of the males were asleep, but she also knew that they needed a good trim. _Especially_ Dustin.

"Do I _really _need to repeat myself?" she yelled, a little louder.

Dustin rolled over in his small twin bed, glaring at the clock with two groggy eyes. He could swear up and down that Andrea was really a drill sergeant in disguise; what, with the way she screamed with such authority and fearlessness.

"Uuuuuuuugh…" he groaned as he covered his face up.

"C'mon man, she's gonna be pissed if she comes in here and you're still asleep," his new roommate, Wes, warned.

"I'm not a ranger for nothing…" Dustin replied somewhat muffled.

Wes laughed, shaking his head and beginning to dress. No doubt the first few weeks were a bit awkward: living in a house with 9 new people—most of which he barely knew—and the others which he had no acquaintance with beforehand. After their first battle, Nike and Andrea had insisted the Rangers stay with them, as the enormous house had just enough room. 4 guest rooms and a master bedroom, which he assumed the sisters shared. Not to mention the fact there was an entire subterranean kitchen near the lab area. Apparently they got hungry while at work…

"If I come in any of these rooms, and someone's asleep, there's gonna be hell to pay!" Andrea's voice could be heard screaming.

"Dude…c'mon," Wes said hurriedly.

Finally, a very grumpy Dustin flipped the covers back, his hair tossed and frayed.

"Nice 'do," Wes chuckled, pointing at Dustin's wavy mess of hair.

The silver ranger offered a very sleepy middle finger as he felt around the ground for some previously worn jeans.

"I'll take a rain check," Wes offered as he left the room.

A few moments later, Dustin joined his 7 teammates in the kitchen where coffee was brewing and bagels were toasting.

"Nice of you to join us, Dustin," Nike said cheerily.

"You _do _realize it's 7 o'clock in the morning, right?" He asked, cutting to the point. Apparently his kindness was still asleep too.

"There's no sense sleeping the day away," Nike replied, her perkiness never faltering.

"Says who?" Zhane grumbled, justifying that Dustin was not the only one disgruntled.

"What barbershop is going to be open _this _early?" Dustin wondered.

"There's one right up here near the mall. I figure we can go shopping afterwards!" Andrea enthused.

Everyone groaned.

"You mean _you_ shop while _we _carry all the bags?" Ryan asked, eyeing the bagels that just popped up.

"That sounds like a good idea too," she said with a quirky smile.

—**V—**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into that…" Dustin complained as he stared in the mirror at his new haircut.

"What? It looks good," Nike shrugged.

"I _look _like Ashton Kutcher," he whined.

"And…what's wrong with that?" Andrea asked, her sister and her giggling loudly.

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Can we at _least _get something to eat?"

"We just ate," Nike answered.

"And…what's wrong with that?" Zhane asked, his arms draping over Andrea and Nike's necks as he hung his head between theirs.

"Fine," Andrea acquiesced.

"You know…malls here are really different from the ones back home," Bridge began.

"We know, Bridge, you've mentioned this before," Ryan groaned.

"Well, did you know that there are exactly—"

"300,517 tiles that complete this mall's floor?" Carter interrupted. "Yeah, you told us already."

Bridge cocked his head, scratching his temple. "Hm…I guess I did," he shrugged.

The group laughed at Bridge's usual antics, and continued on through the quiet mall. Still being only 10 AM, no one had been odd enough to shop at that time.

"Oh, Pizza!" Dustin shouted.

"You guys are gonna kill yourselves," Sky said, his tone full of annoyance.

"Slowly," Bridge reminded him as he took off after Dustin.

"And enjoyably," Zhane added, as he too took off.

"You know what…you guys go ahead and hang out, we've actually gotta go back to the house…monitor the city," Nike said, having been whispering with Andrea for quite some time now.

"Uhm…okay," Leo agreed. "Want me to come along?"

"No, we're good; thanks anyway, though, Fido," Andrea teased as she and her sister turned to leave.

"Well how are we getting home?" he yelled after them as they continued to walk off.

"Improvise!" Andrea shouted back.

Giggles could be heard from the retreating figures until they were out the door.

"Great," he sighed, deciding to grab some pizza with the others.

—**V—**

Nike adjusted the power input, and then slowed the psychic output meter. Giving a few orders to Andrea, she placed the headdress on her head and began the system.

"_Stergata, Zynthos_," she said firmly, her headdress beginning to glow.

"_Zetaleeoz om Orbytus, Zynthos!_" Nike chanted in her native Eltarian tongue, this time her own headdress glowing. "_Kraksyneks…Yenz_!" she said, a surging noise spreading throughout the room.

Instantly, their memories faded out, and the only thing heard from them was a blood curdling scream from the sisters…

—**V—**

Zeus looked at the three intruders.

"So…you're telling me that you will take the stones from the rangers, give them to me, and allow me to take Earth…if I restore this other _miserable _excuse for a planet to its former glory?"

The black one, seemingly their leader, stepped up, "That's the agreement. You don't like it, then we'll just be off."

"Fine. You have three days. If the rangers are not destroyed, no deal. AND I will take _your _stones," Zeus snarled as he looked at them.

They seemed to never stop finding colors. Before him stood a black ranger, a purple ranger, and a green ranger, all males, and heavily armored. Zeus found himself somewhat lucky to have been able to strike a deal with the Rebel Rangers. Hopefully, he would soon see his father again.

"That's plenty of time," the green one said in a cocky tone. He turned on his heel, his red cape billowing behind him as he began to walk away. Purple and Black soon followed until they disappeared in flashes of light.

"I don't trust them, father," a tall female said as she stepped out of the shadows, her copper-colored skin offset by the pure white ionic columns of Mount Imperious.

"Shh," he ordered her as he heard the word 'father.' "You know that if Hera hears you, we'll all be in for it. Refer to me as Zeus from now on," he growled.

She hung her head as she pushed a strand of orange-and-black hair from her face, "Yes…sorry about that."

"Never mind that. I have a mission for you…but I must first have a meeting with the gods. In the meantime…take a trip to Tartarus and familiarize yourself with Rhea…my mother."

"Rhea? Why her?" she asked bewilderedly.

"Don't ask, just do it," he said slowly as he faded away from his chair.

—**V—**

Ryan pushed Carter slightly in a playful manner. It was one of the few days that just felt _normal_. He didn't feel tense around the others anymore, and it was almost like he'd known them for longer than two weeks. Supposedly that's what happens when you're fighting for lives. He didn't know how many times they'd saved each other, or whether or not it really mattered. What he _did _know was that he had a nagging feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. It had manifested lately, with the time he'd been spending with Carter of course. He didn't like the feeling, wanted it to die, or even just to sleep for a while. And suddenly, there it was, prying on his lips, but he clamped them shut, and wouldn't let the words out. His smile faded away slowly, even after the perverse joke Zhane had made.

"Hey, Ry', what's wrong?" Carter asked as the rest of the group began to pull further forward from them.

"Ah, nothing…just thinking. I mean…we still haven't found the civilians yet, or where those portals lead to," he said. Feigning like he was thinking about work always seemed to get Carter off his back.

"You've been thinking about that a lot lately. Normally I would be too…but, the Chrominites won't kill them, we already know that. Remember, they need them alive or the stones won't glow for them. Nike explained all that; if they kill an inhabitant of the Stone's resting place, then it will not glow for them."

"Yeah…I know."

Ah, crap. Carter was breaking past that excuse. Ryan searched his mind, but couldn't come up with another.

"Ryan…what's _really _wrong with you? You can tell me, you know that, right? Does it have something to do with what you were gonna tell me before all this started?"

Ryan sighed, opening his mouth to explain, but a mental alarm went off in each ranger's head. Trouble.

"Let's go," Dustin said hurriedly as they crammed into an area between two buildings.

"NATURE'S FURY, RELEASE WITHIN ME!"

Within seconds, they were on the scene the computer had detected.

"I don't see anything," Carter said as they landed, looking around cautiously.

"Me either. I'm doing an energy scan but I can't—" Sky was cut off by a green blast that connected with his shoulder, sending him reeling back in smoke.

"What the—" Bridge cut himself off as he saw the cause of the shot.

"More rangers?" Carter asked, half to himself.

"We're not necessarily what you'd call _rangers_," the Green one said as he knocked his cape back.

"Then just what the hell are you?" Wes snapped back.

"Don't worry about that, golden boy," Black Ranger said calmly.

"Why is it all the evil rangers always have some screwed up voice?" Dustin asked as he stepped up as well.

"Well, unlike you, we don't want people to recognize our voices when we talk. Surprisingly, no one's found out who you are," the Purple Ranger explained.

"We're not here to talk about voices! What do you want with us? We're not into randomly blasting people!" Sky demanded as he held his shoulder.

"You can't tell? We're evil, dip-shit. Give us the jewels or you'll die trying to keep them," Green ranger threatened.

"Sorry, but I think we'll take option number two," Carter shot back.

"Leo, you teleport back to base and see why Andrea and Nike aren't answering, make sure they're okay. Everyone else, let's handle this," Wes planned out.

"Sad, sad little ranger," Black ranger said, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"I'll be right back guys," Leo said as he teleported off the scene.

"Let's take them out quickly so we can get off this planet," Purple ranger snarled.

"Here we go again with the played-out evil ranger plot," Dustin sighed as he slid into a fighting position.


	6. Bitter Defeat

_**Chapter VI—Bitter Defeat**_

Without hesitation, the Black, Green, and Purple rangers charged the heroes at high speed, ripping past them in blurs that caused sparks when they touched.

The fury rangers flew back in pain, landing roughly.

"So that's how you wanna play?" Dustin asked as he began to stand.

Wes also stood.

"Again!" the black one ordered.

Dustin shook his head and thrust his arms forward, causing a huge gust of wind to lock them in place.

"NOW!" Dustin yelled at Wes.

Wes nodded quickly, clapping his hands together and causing a sonic boom to slam into the evil rangers.

"Booyah!" Dustin celebrated.

But it was short lived, as when they looked to where the evil rangers should've been…they weren't there.

"Looking for us?" the purple one taunted from atop a nearby building.

"What?" Carter gasped.

"Let's just get them already!" Sky yelled out.

A clash for power soon ensued, but the only thing the Fury rangers managed to do was find out the special ability of the others. The Black Ranger turned out to be Lightning, the Green one was an Astral powered Ranger, and the Purple Ranger was lunar powered.

The 7 Fury Rangers landed in a smoking heap.

"That's it, time to end this," Lightning Ranger insisted. "Dragon Siege Crossbow!"

He pulled out a spear like weapon, took off the tip, and attached it to the tip of the green ranger's scepter. Then, he laid it like a bar, on which the purple ranger's blades (that resembled edgy, hollow-center boomerangs) formed a drawstring of sorts. Finally the green ranger laid his scepter atop and they were ready.

"Fire!" they yelled together.

The blast was inevitable; impacting with furious power, the energy ball sent the rangers through the building they had been near, causing a massive cave-in.

"I don't get it…who are these guys?" Sky wondered aloud.

"Guys!" Leo's voice rang in their head.

"What is it Leo? What'd you find?" Carter questioned.

"It's horrible. The entire lab is destroyed; I'm surprised the computer was able to alert us when it did…and there's no sign of Andrea or Nike…"

The rangers exchanged masked confusion, as their visors kept them from making eye contact.

"A-are you sure?" Sky managed to get out.

"I'm on my way back…there's not much I can do," Leo said as he swept a lose wire from his visor-less helmet.

In a flash of flickering white, he was back on the scene. He noted the instability of the teleportation system.

"I think that was our last teleport…" he admitted.

"We can't fight these guys…" Wes panted.

"Oh _rangers_," a voice chided.

Their helmets snapped in the direction of the voice.

"You didn't forget about little ol' us, did you?" the green one asked.

Leo drew his trident. "You bastards! You're the ones who killed Nike and Andrea!"

"Maybe they should have learned to protect themselves better; something you obviously don't know how to do either," the purple tinted ranger laughed.

In a growl, Leo charged them but was instantly shocked backward by a black lightning bolt. The energy wrapped around his body, causing him immense pain.

"What's wrong with him?" Ryan panicked.

"Other than the fact he just got struck by lightning…" Zhane began as he tried to help Leo up.

"His element is water; water conducts electricity. Poor fool," the black ranger explained.

Leo shook violently, almost as if he was going through a seizure.

_We have to get out of here_ Sky's voice came through everyone's helmets.

"On the contrary, red ranger; you—are not going anywhere," the Green one said coldly.

"Sand Storm!" Ryan and Dustin called out.

Out of Dustin's hand came a cyclone while Ryan took hold of the ground, causing dirt to fly up and meet the cyclone; it barely was enough to buy them 10 seconds.

"Grab Leo and let's go!" Carter said urgently as they began to scramble away.

"Get them!" they could hear the black ranger bark.

"Dustin…can you…fly yet…?" Sky panted out as they high-tailed it away from the collapsed building.

"A little bit!" he yelled back as he leapt over a laser blast.

"Now's a good a time as any to try!" Wes decided as he focused his energy.

Soon, he was outlined in gold and began to levitate over the others.

"I can only carry two of you; I've got Leo and Ryan," Wes said as he began to lift them with his powers.

But it was obvious from the slow way he pulled from the ground that the strain was too much.

"Never mind, I can only take one."

An energy beam whizzed past his head.

"C'mon Dustin!" Wes yelled.

Dustin closed his eyes, trying hard not to think about the rangers behind him and more about the sky above. In a matter of moments, an enormous gust of wind swept him off his feet and he was airborne.

"I've got you Ryan!" he yelled down.

Ryan began to float upwards, lifted by a cyclone.

"Don't worry about us, we can all fly, and Zhane's got super speed," Sky noted.

"What about me?" Carter asked.

"Gotcha," Bridge said, both of them beginning to float.

"I need to say again that these powers are _amazing_!" Dustin enthused as they began to pick up speed.

"You're not getting away so easily!" A voice called after them.

In horror, Dustin looked over his shoulder to see the Black Ranger, flying faster than any of them, and followed by the Green and Purple rangers.

"Oh shit…" he mumbled as he tried to pick up speed.

"There's the house!" Ryan called, seeing the welcoming figure.

"Zhane, are you already in there?" Sky asked him through thought-speech.

"Yeah, what's the order?" he asked.

"Go down to the lab and see if you can find an orange box secured to the wall near the bathroom."

A few moments of silence, "Found it!"

"Okay, open it, and then press in the numbers 3-9-1-8-4!" Sky said calmly as blast after blast went by him.

"What did I just do?" Zhane asked.

"You just turned on the shields."

"Then how are you guys gonna get in?"

"Leave it to me."

Sky flew off faster than he had been, hovering over the shield. The other rangers were about 200 feet away. He extended his hand and felt the shock of the shield. Yep, just as he thought; extremely powerful. He focused intently, ignoring the numbing sensation until he'd managed to manipulate a hole in the barrier around the large suburban house.

"Be careful, Sky," Bridge thought, half to himself.

One by one, the Rangers flew through the small hole; and, without a second to spare, Sky slipped through as the three intruders skidded to halt in mid-air.

"Another day, rangers!" the Purple one said as they flew off into the air.

If they'd been anything but calm when facing Zeus after their failure to capture the rangers, the evil ranger trinity did an excellent job hiding it.

"You'll just have to get us an extension. You know we can do this better than any of your little _Demigods_," the black ranger had told Zeus.

And so it was.

—**VI—**

Dustin slammed his hand on the nightstand, trying to find the ringing phone. His eyes were still closed when he found it and flipped it open, putting it to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice rather gravelly.

"Dustin?" a familiar voice came through the receiver.

Dustin shot up in bed, hitting his elbow on the nightstand.

"Hunter?"

"Hey! So you _are _okay?"

"Y-yeah, what—where are you? What happened?"

Hunter sighed, "The Academy's gone, so I've been staying with Tommy. Where are you?"

Dustin looked over at Wes' sleeping form. It was only 10:00, but after getting their asses kicked earlier that day, they'd all hit the sack pretty early.

He debated whether or not he should tell Hunter, but remembered who Hunter was; his best friend. It didn't take any more prodding before everything spilled out; the people, the suits, the powers, the evil rangers. Everything.

"Damn dude…sounds like you've been busy," Hunter quipped.

"Yeah, we have. But, what about you? I mean, you had to have been doing _something_ within these past months. I'm sure Tommy's got you goin' on all sorts of exciting missions with him."

"No, not really. Tommy's been gone for a week now, out meeting with some people, and left his house to me. Just been training my ass off until I pass out, of course."

"You _must_ be training too hard," Dustin whispered back into the phone with a slight chuckle.

He didn't know why, but his insides felt hot and melted. He didn't like the feeling at all. He'd only gotten a few times when talking to Hunter for extended periods. It wasn't often you got much out of him, but when you did, you felt accomplished.

"Well, hey, do you wanna meet up tomorrow? Say, around noon?" Hunter asked.

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great!" Dustin said a bit too quickly.

"Okay, let's meet up at the mall near Reefside and Angel Grove's limits," Hunter decided.

"Sounds good."

"Alright, then it's a date," Hunter laughed as he hung up.

Dustin froze. _It's a date_. The words were simple enough, yes, but coming from Hunter it was…different. For a long, long time, Dustin had been unsure of his feelings for Hunter. Sure he was his best friend, but there always seemed to be a little bit…more.

No. That kind of thinking was not allowed. Hunter was his friend, and his friend he would  
remain.

"You okay?" Wes asked.

Startled, Dustin snapped from his thoughts. "Yeah. Fine. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Kind of. Who were you talking to?"

"Old teammate."

Oh…you know…you shouldn't really tell people all that," Wes said cautiously.

"Yeah…I know. But…it's Hunter. He won't tell anyone."

"That's not the point though, Dustin. The point is, people can tap in on your conversations…just…be careful next time," Wes said, rolling over and signaling that the conversation was over.

Dustin shrugged Wes off as his thoughts drifted back to Hunter. Did never wanting to stop being friends with Hunter make Dustin gay? Did it mean he loved him? No. It didn't. It meant he was his best friend.

"I _am not_ gay," he said out loud, then quickly clapped his hand over his mouth.

"That's nice to know," Wes mumbled.


	7. Meet & Deceit

_**Chapter VII—Meet & Deceit **_

Not a soul was asleep in the House of Fury at 9 that morning. Carter and Ryan had planned a jog, and were quickly joined by Sky and Bridge. Wes made some plans with Leo and Zhane that included checking out motocross bikes, and of course, Dustin had his plans with Hunter.

But not all was as festive as it may have seemed to anyone unaware of their double lives. The life they led when fighting the rogue rangers. The life they led while facing horrible truths neither wanted to believe or accept. The life they led in a house that didn't belong to them. It had been impossible to get used to life without the fiery Andrea or the serene yet snappy Nike. They had no one to guide them, no one to keep them company aside from other rangers. Furthermore…the rangers were living in their house; sure, that's what the sisters would have wanted, but…it didn't make the rangers feel any less guilty that there was nothing they could do to protect them.

"Be back later!" Dustin called through the house, making his way for the door.

It was blocked by Wes.

"Be careful. Call if something happens, okay?"

"Um…okay. It's just Hunter, dude, relax."

"But hasn't he lied to you before?" Wes questioned, not knowing how much of a sore-spot that was.

"Don't worry about it," Dustin replied lowly as he opened the door and left.

"What's his problem?" Leo asked, waltzing up to the confused Wes.

"Not sure…"

**—VII—**

"You are aware of this mission?" Zeus asked the black ranger that knelt before him.

"Perfectly; don't worry, I've done this before. Besides, it's not like I'm dealing with a rocket scientist here; _they've_ already been taken care of," he gloated.

"Then go…and don't screw up."

"I never do," he shot back as he disappeared in a flash of black lightning.

"Why does he get to have all the fun?" Green ranger asked spitefully.

"Because we're dead, remember?" the purple ranger laughed.

—**VII—**

Dustin frowned. It was past 12 o'clock and he was pretty sure ninjas didn't run late…except for himself, of course. Upon arriving when that particular mall opened at 11, he decided to grab some unhealthy breakfast at a nearby cafe, and then walked around for a while until now. Frustrated, he ran his hand through his hair, but couldn't help but think what Hunter would say about it.

"_Why does his opinion matter so much all the sudden?"_ He growled internally, sitting down at a bench outside the main entrance. Before he could continue his thoughts, he was interrupted by something familiar.

"Whoa…where did the hair go?" Hunter's voice rang out.

Dustin spun around, eyeing his ex-crimson friend. He definitely still looked like Hunter, decked out in a black and red t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. Still had the same crazy hair, just a slightly different build, like he'd been doing more training or _something_ strenuous.

"Hey, dude!" Dustin greeted, meeting Hunter in a handshake.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much, just waitin' on you," Dustin shot back.

Hunter smirked. "I had to be fashionably late."

A laugh came from Dustin before the silence gained control and each wore a fading smile on their face. It was indeed awkward seeing each other again, especially under estranged circumstances.

"So, wanna see a movie, or what?" Hunter questioned, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, sure, but I gotta eat, or I'm gonna kill someone."

Hunter laughed, "Okay, well I'm sure this mall has a food court _somewhere_."

—**VII—**

"Can we go now? All the rangers are split up; it'd be easy to pick them off by smaller groups!" Lunar ranger growled, getting anxious.

"No. We must gain access to the house first. Once there, you can take control of the zords," explained Zeus.

"Why do we need zords if they don't even know they have their own?" the Astral ranger asked.

"DO NOT QUESTION MY AUTHORITY!" Zeus bellowed, his eyes shooting electricity toward the green ranger, landing at his feet.

"I won't wait forever," the lunar ranger muttered, fading away in a purple glow.

The green ranger looked to Zeus. "If he doesn't get into the house by 6, we're going after them; with or without him and the zords."

—**VII—**

Carter, Ryan, Bridge, and Sky arrived back at their welcoming home around 12:30, sweating profusely and toting sore muscles.

"You know, I was looking forward to a break, Sky," Bridge commented as he stood in the kitchen, a glass of water held firm in his hand.

"No rest for the weary," Sky retorted, downing his own water.

In the next room, Carter was pulling out clothes, trying to get in the shower before someone else claimed it. Hurriedly, he found a grey shirt with some anonymous letters on the front, and a pair of shorts. He rushed into the bathroom headlong, forgoing any caution. To his horror, Ryan was in the process of stepping into the shower.

"AH!" Ryan screamed, pulling the curtain down and covering himself.

"AH!" Carter screamed back, slamming the door.

Once he caught his breath, Carter began to laugh uncontrollably. On the other side of the door, he could hear the same coming from Ryan.

A few moments later, a fully clothed Ryan stepped out. "Sorry."

"There's nothin' to apologize for!" Carter laughed, "We're both guys here, right?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Okay then!"

Even Carter's nonchalant attitude didn't break the obvious tension between the two, who were now mere inches from each other. The succeeding kiss didn't make matters much better; it only earned Ryan a push back into the bathroom door.

"Ryan! What was that?"

Panicked, Ryan blanched.

"I…uh…I'm not…sure."

"Well, I'll tell you what it seemed like!"

Ryan couldn't stay in the room with an outraged Carter. The next best thing to another room was the bathroom behind him. Using his power, he passed through the door and appeared on the other side of the now locked door.

"Fuck…" he groaned.

—**VII—**

"SHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a woman spun around and hissed.

It only made Dustin and Hunter laugh even more.

A flashlight shone brightly on them. "If you two don't be quiet, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the security guard threatened.

"Sorry…we'll straighten up," Dustin managed between spurts of laughter.

In a huff, the guard turned around and exited, leaving Dustin and Hunter in a fit of laughter. Luckily for them, the film ended before they broke their jaws from laughing.

"So, what's up next?" Dustin questioned as he regained control of himself.

"We could go meet your new friends," Hunter suggested.

Dustin began to comply, but stopped. "Uh…I dunno if that's such a good idea."

"Why?"

"It's not you, really…but some of the guys are kinda uptight and might get mad at me if I bring you over."

"We're all rangers here, right?"

Dustin shrugged and found his bike, revving it up. _Why do I have this feeling that this is gonna bite me in the ass?_

—**VII—**

"He kissed me, Sky! Like, just completely forced himself on me! What would give him that idea?" Carter ranted, his face bright red.

"I don't really see why you're so outraged."

"WHAT?" Carter almost screeched. "Sky, Ryan's a _guy_! He's my best friend! I-I can't even begin to _imagine_ why he would do that."

"You're thinking too far into it, Carter," Sky said calmly. "Ryan obviously likes you. It's not that hard to tell, really. In fact, didn't you say there seemed to be something bothering him earlier?"

Carter didn't respond, looking around the kitchen for something to occupy him.

"Maybe he was trying to think of a way to tell you? That kind of guilt or emotion really builds up on a person, especially with Ryan's history."

"Sky, I'm 24. I'm getting a little too old to play these high school games. I…I'm not like that, Ryan should've already known that."

"Maybe he read you wrong?"

"Read me wrong?"

"It's really not that uncommon. Bridge always read me wrong."

"Bridge thought you were gay?"

Sky flipped the page of the newspaper he'd been reading. "No, Bridge thought I was straight."

—**VII—**

"Think we ought to be getting back?" Zhane asked, removing his helmet and observing the motocross track.

"I think so. I feel like something bad's about to happen," Wes replied, squinting at the sun.

"Oh c'mon man, we just got a break. Maybe Zeus is finally giving up?"

"I doubt it."

"C'mon then, let's go," Zhane said slowly, turning his bike towards the store.

Leo and Zhane began to heave their bikes up the hill, but Wes remained where he was, his eyes following the cloud movement.

"Wes, you comin'?" Leo asked.

Without moving his eyes, Wes answered, "Yeah…"

Something was definitely about to happen. The calm before the storm…


	8. Remember the Titans, Part I

_**Chapter VIII-Remember the Titans Part I**_

Dustin eased the door open to the place he now called home. All was pretty silent as the setting sun filtered through the half-open blinds.

"This is it," Dustin said over his shoulder to his ex-teammate.

Hunter slowly entered the humongous interior of the house. For a house full of guys, the house was in impeccable shape. No clothes littered around the floor or empty beer/soda cans. No dirty dishes lying around or food in random places.

"This is one nice-ass house," Hunter commented as he looked around the glowing living room.

The walls had not a touch of off-white paint, and the marble fireplace seemed to be glistening in the sunlight. The furniture looked like it belonged in a mansion, whereas the carpet seemed like a large blanket rather than something one walked on.

"Eh, we do what we can," Dustin shrugged.

Chuckling, Hunter began to walk the path the padded salmon carpet took him. Dustin followed idly. They arrived in the kitchen where Carter sat with his head laid on the table looking sweaty and defeated.

"Hey Carter, what's up? This is my friend Hunter."

Carter's head whipped up, "Did _you _know about the queers on our team?"

Hunter raised an eyebrow as he looked at Dustin.

"W-what?" Dustin asked, having to double process Carter's response, "Where'd that come from?"

"Ryan kissed me, so I come to Sky to let some steam off and turns out he was one of _them _too!"

Hunter looked lost. "Is _every_ day like this?" he whispered.

Dustin didn't answer, "Um…okay…well, I'm gonna finish showing Hunter around…" Dustin let his sentence hang as he and Hunter walked off.

Moments later, the two made their way to Dustin's room that he shared with Wes, then made their way back downstairs to the den, and back to the kitchen.

"You're not taking him to the basement, are you?" Carter asked, his tone rather tense.

"Uh…yeah, why?"

Carter looked bewildered, "Do you not _know_ what's in the basement?"

"Oh, dude, chill; Hunter used to be a ranger too."

Carter's face fell. He looked at Hunter, then back at Dustin, "Right…"

Hunter rolled his eyes and followed Dustin's tugging on him to escape the otherwise insane Carter.

"Is he always like that?" Hunter questioned.

"Not always. Normally he's pretty chill when we're not training."

Dustin opened the door to the basement and laid his hand on an Elemental Detector.

"What's that thing, like a fingerprint scan?"

"No, it scans for elemental energies; like mine is wind."

Hunter nodded and descended the stairs with his ex-ninja friend. Dustin didn't notice the detector flash before letting out a mild explosion.

The basement was _truly _a piece of work. Everything there put Cam to shame and outdid any device he'd ever come up with.

"This place is amazing…" Hunter gasped, "Who made all this?"

"The girls I told you about earlier, Nike and Andrea, they made all this before they…yeah…" Dustin trailed off.

Hunter's expression saddened, "Sorry."

"It's okay…it's just so weird without them, ya know?"

Flashes of gold, blue, and white filled the room as Leo, Zhane, and Wes arrived before Dustin and Hunter.

"Whoa!" Hunter remarked as their teleporting colors faded.

"Dustin!" Wes cried out, "Who is he?"

"Oh; Wes, Zhane, Leo, this is my friend Hunter, Crimson Thunder ranger."

Leo outstretched his hand and shook with Hunter. In turn, Zhane did the same. Wes slowly outstretched his hand, but when their hands began to meet, a ball of energy formed and pushed the two back painfully.

"What the hell was that?!" Wes exclaimed, looking at his sore hand.

Hunter grasped his own hand, examining it.

"Hunter, you okay man?"

Hunter lifted his head, his eyes tainted much darker than usual.

"Hunter what's wrong with your eyes…?"

"Look out!" Wes screamed as he jumped into Dustin, pushing himself and Dustin under the nearest desk.

An explosion of lightning filled the room, frying half the computers near where Hunter stood.

Moments later, after the smoke had settled, a mysterious dark figure stood in the middle of the room, black lightning dancing around his sleek, firm body.

"The Black ranger…" Leo muttered.

"So very observant of you, Leo," he answered.

Only his voice wasn't its usual metallic tone. No, it was replaced by a voice Dustin knew only too well.

"Hunter…?" he whispered.

The black ranger cracked his neck, and then his visor shot open.

"Thanks for leading me here, Dusty; I could never have done this without you."

"You!" Wes accused, grabbing Dustin by his collar.

"No! I didn't know!" Dustin squirmed, pushing Wes away from him and his ranger armor spinning on to him.

"You lied to me…" Dustin stated, his voice wavering as he stared at the monstrous ranger Hunter had become, "You promised you'd never do this again…"

Hunter looked careless, "Plans change, Dustin. But really, I thought you would've caught on. I mean Jesus; I was wearing a _black _shirt! Did you really think I was going to stand by and watch as the whole planet goes to hell? And didn't it seem a _little_ out of place for me to call you of all people and ask to hang out?"

Dustin was taken aback by the words.

"What do you mean?"

"Like anyone could _honestly_ stand to be around you for 5 hours?"

Dustin's fists tightened as tears began to sting his eyes behind the visor.

"You're lying."

"I'm only playing you like the fool you _are_."

"I'm nobody's fool!" Dustin shouted as he disappeared and reappeared behind Hunter, kicking him in the back and sending him across the room. A slicing wind followed, knocking Hunter into the staircase.

"Nature's Fury, Release Within Me!" Leo, Wes, and Zhane called simultaneously.

"I don't think so!" Hunter growled, outstretching his hand and shocking them into the wall.

They slammed several times before Hunter let them fall, unconscious.

"They had nothing to do with this!" Dustin yelled at him.

"They were in the way."

Carter slammed through the basement door, Sky, Bridge, and Ryan in tow.

"Stop right there!" Sky ordered, pointing a strong finger at Hunter.

"Back off!" Hunter demanded, shocking the four rangers into the opposite wall of the other three unconscious rangers. They, too, were knocked out.

"Now it's just you and me," Hunter smirked.

"Why are you doing this?" Dustin asked as they circled each other.

"Dustin, there is so much you _don't _understand. This is bigger than just being "evil" or "good." This so much more than saving "earth" from destruction. This pathetic planet is disposable. It's served its purpose just like you. And while you sit here with these _pathetic _people, I've found my true purpose. You can't beat the Chrominites, so you might as well just give in. They've sent me and my family to kill you. I don't want to have to kill you," he threatened, lingering slightly on his last sentence.

"Then don't."

"Fine, then they will," Hunter retorted, raising his hand to the air.

Seconds later, a purple and green glow filled the room as the Lunar and Astral rangers appeared in the room, waking the unconscious fury rangers from their impromptu slumber.

"W-what…?"

"Hello, Dustin," sounded the purple ranger's voice.

But like Hunter, their voices weren't metallic and cold like they had been before.

"You're-you're girls!"

The rangers waved their hands in front of their faces, their powers vanishing.

A woman about 5'10" in height, with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes stood in the place of what was previously the Purple Lunar Ranger. Meanwhile, the Green Astral Ranger was replaced by a young woman no shorter than 5'5" with natural red hair and eyes matching that of the blonde.

"N-Nike…?" Wes grunted as he moved in pain.

"And…and Andrea?" Leo asked, also groaning as he moved.

"Sorry to keep this act up for so long, but it was just so priceless to see you 'men' cry like babies," Andrea mocked.

"Why?" Sky spoke up, "Why go through all the trouble of getting us here and giving us the morphers if you just want to destroy us?"

"Call it a sport," Nike answered devilishly.

"There's got to be some sort of a spell affecting them. I know Hunter wouldn't do this," Dustin stated.

"Get up!" Andrea commanded the fallen rangers, "So we can tend to your destruction."

Slowly, the Fury rangers complied, rising to their feet with defiant looks plastered on their faces.

"We've worked too hard to keep this planet safe, and if we have to fight you to keep doing  
it…then so be it," Sky growled, standing up rebelliously.

The evil rangers didn't flinch as they stared the other s down. Sparks flew between them, literally, as wires and dust began to float around the once-again ruined basement.

"Nature's Fury, Release From in Me!"

The brilliant light would've been enough to blind any normal person that viewed its radiance. But Hunter and Dustin merely stood with steel glares piercing the other, even through the thick visors.

"Fury—Rangers!" the good rangers yelled.

"For Eltar!" their former friends screamed.

Like they had been for the past weeks, the rangers fought bravely, this time holding nothing back. It was as if the betrayal had unleashed something primal within the rangers. Whatever it was, whether it be the Eltarians feeling some sort of guilt, or the Fury Rangers feeling hurt beyond belief, the three rebels weren't dominating as usual.

"Let's get what we came for so we can crush them," Nike panted over to Andrea, blocking a sonic boom from Wes.

Andrea nodded and flipped over to the furthest wall, pushing a brick in slightly, which revealed a hidden computer console.

"Fury Titans, awaken!" Andrea commanded as she removed the emblem on her chest and slammed it into the keyboard.

The entire house began to shake as the clouds outside began to darken.

"Catch ya on the Zord side," Nike laughed as she disappeared with her three comrades.

"Zords?" Bridge wondered.

"We have to stop them!" Ryan called out as they all rushed out to the scene with their various powers.

Zords are an overbearingly intimidating sight. Even the good ones. So staring in the face of three evil dragon model zords was not necessarily a picnic by the pond.

"Holy shit, look at those things!" Carter gaped, pointing at the 3 dragons looming overhead.

Neither of them were moving but it wasn't hard to tell they were more than just robots; they were sentient beings.

"Theia; Dragon of the Stars and daughter of Ouranos, you are now mine to command," Andrea commanded, holding her hand out to the dragon.

A greenish glow began to emit from her hand, flowing upward to the dragon's head. In a shine, it stopped.

"Your turn, bro," Andrea gloated.

"Prometheus: Wyvern of Lightning and son of Iapetos; you will obey me."

Hunter repeated Andrea's motion, a black light undulating to the Wyvern's head as it softly growled.

"And Phoebe, Drake of the Moon, daughter of Gaia; you will be my new Zord," Nike finished.

She too repeated the motion, taking control of the Zord.

"What are we supposed to do?" Bridge panicked.

"Look!" Dustin shouted, pointing up to the sky at the energy that was forming a box shaped device.

"What is that?"

"NO!" Hunter cursed.

"Pandora's Box!" Andrea shrieked, her disgust obvious.

"But how?!" gasped Nike.

"You fools!" Zeus' booming voice came from the clouds. "I give you a simple task; retrieve the titans, and _this_ is what you do?"

His body was still out of sight, but every person within miles was able to hear the God of the Sky's voice.

"Don't get testy, we can still finish this," Hunter smooth talked, regaining his composure.

Zeus let out a harsh laugh, "As you have been finishing it for the past week?!"

The Fury rangers looked completely lost.

"Is that Zeus?" whispered Zhane to Dustin.

"Beats the hell out of me…"

"Titanic Dragons, armor up mode!" Hunter ordered, jumping aboard his Wyvern.

"Where did that creepy voice go?" Carter asked, getting worried, "I could really use some help right about now!"

"This ends now, rangers!" Andrea laughed manically as she jumped aboard her green dragon.

A giant foot began to descend upon the rangers.

"Sound Barrier!" Wes yelled out, thrusting his hands up.

A golden ripple extended across the area the rangers were standing under, forming a dome around them. The dragon foot immediately began to push down on it.

"AGH!" Wes cried in agony.

Dustin, without thinking, joined in, putting all the air resistance he could muster into the barrier.

"We've got to—keep it—together!" Dustin strained.

Sky closed his eyes, focusing on all the energy and life power he had stored in his body. In a miraculous feat, he threw both hands outward, encasing the silvery gold barrier in a red cover.

"I don't know how long I can keep this up," he managed to say through gritted teeth, veins popping from places they shouldn't.

"We're sitting ducks!" exclaimed Zhane.

"I'll see if I can get us a tunnel. Might as well dig," Ryan quipped, pushing land aside with his mind.

The other rangers watched hopelessly as a foot tried to crush them and their only hope for escape was being created.

"Just shoot them already!" Andrea growled as her dragon, walking on four legs and sporting two large green and red wings, began to close in on the rangers.

Its eyes glowed a devilish red color before lasers came forth, impacting on the shield with maximum force.


	9. Remember the Titans, Part II

_**Chapter IX—Remember the Titans Part II**_

Dustin, Wes, and Sky shook from the collision of energy on the shield, but they managed to keep their hold as the intensity increased.

"Aaaaaagh!" they groaned.

Out of nowhere came a miraculous light, divided into 8 spectacular colors, shining over the 3 dragons and pushing them back.

"Look, the box!" Bridge pointed out.

The three struggling rangers let their shield fall in awe and exhaustion, looking back at the other rangers to see if they, too, saw the light. It was the most enormous thing they'd ever seen.

"What could be in there?" Ryan wondered.

"A Zord?" chimed Sky.

It was a box made of prismatic energy, and as its top began to open, the runic shapes on the rangers' suits began to glow, extending their light toward the box.

"It's opening!" observed Leo.

A widespread wave of pure light energy swept over the rangers, temporarily blinding everyone who was regarding the sight. When the shimmers died down, 8 individual Zords were seen, all modeled after different mythical and powerful creatures. The sight was incredible. Standing in the middle of the city were the most amazing creatures the rangers had ever seen.

"Those are the legendary Fury Titans," Bridge gaped.

"You know what those things are?" Ryan asked.

"Iapetos the Thunder Titan," Wes mumbled before Bridge could answer, "He just spoke to me…"

Everyone looked at Wes with a strange stare.

"These are our new Zords, guys! They want us to get on!"

"I don't think so!" Hunter shouted, his Wyvern flapping its large, black wings.

His was the only Zord able to stand on its hind legs, but it began to use its equally strong wings to hover toward them.

"Quick, everyone; to your Zords!" Sky commanded the group.

"Iapetos, Thunder Titan!" Wes announced once more, now jumping incredible heights to stand on its red-maned head.

"Tethys, Energy Titaness!" Sky boarded his massive red and black tiger.

"Atlas, Terrestrial Titan!" called Ryan, jumping up onto the Brown and Silver bull.

"Okeanos, the Tidal Titan!" Leo shouted, the pale Plesiosaur-shaped Leviathan ducking its head down for him, and its whites and reds contrasting the gloomy weather.

"Koios, the Polar Titan!" Carter stepped up, the bear growling softly as he landed atop his head.

"Hyperion, the Solar Titan!" Bridge followed, his enormous red and yellow phoenix gently flapping its wings.

"Mnemosyne, the Inferno Titaness!" cried Zhane, marveling at the sight of his beauteous prehistoric raptor Zord.

"Themis, the Cyclone Titaness!" Dustin finished upon seeing the large griffin bowing its head to him.

"Fury Titans, Armor-Up Mode!" the Fury rangers chorused.

The Zords, once animals, were covered in respective ranger colors until a wave of armor washed over them. The complex and mechanized appearance only added to their polished and dangerous presence. These Titans clearly demanded respect.

"Battle of the zords, huh?" Hunter smirked as his Wyvern flapped back away from the intimidating zords. "Draconis Megazord, mobilize!" he ordered.

Phoebe, the Lunar Drake, began to run at light-speed until it jumped high into the air, forming an arm. Theia flew rapidly towards the purple drake, forming another arm. Finally, Hunter's Wyvern, Prometheus, took flight in the middle of them, forming a body and legs as its head folded backwards. A head appeared from somewhere out of Theia's body, snapping onto the top of Hunter's Zord to complete the Draconis Megazord.

"Whoa, Megazord already?" Dustin asked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Zhane questioned cockily.

"Zhane wait!" Sky called out, trying to stop the raptor the Blue Ranger controlled.

But it was too late. Mnemosyne charged at the much larger Megazord and was side swiped immediately.

"That was _not _cool," groaned Zhane.

"It says in my data banks that Red, Brown, White, Gray, and Yellow rangers are supposed to form the Fury Fighter Megazord, while the rest of us have individual battle modes," Wes read.

"Whoa!" Dustin expressed himself as he began to input the commands his data told him.

Soon, his griffin, Themis jumped up and flipped around so that its front legs became robot legs and its hind legs became robot arms. The griffin head folded to the back of the robot while a robot head came out of the upper back. The wings rotated so they faced upright, and Dustin's Zord was ready for action.

Hunter blinked in the cockpit he shared with his sisters. "How are they learning so quickly?" he snarled to Nike.

"They _are _the chosen ones, Hunter, what else did you expect?"

He ignored her as he attempted to make the Megazord attack them prematurely.

The giant mecha was stopped in its tracks by a transformation shield that ensured the zords' safety as they combined.

"That was just low," Leo mocked.

"Let's get the Fury Fighter online!" Sky enthused.

Without further hesitation, the transformation began. Hyperion the Solar Phoenix glided forward, splitting on a mid-saggital plane. His body contracted and his wings folded shut after they too contracted. Atlas performed an amazing feat, jumping into the air unlike any bull could, his back sliding into his shoulder area so his hind legs and front legs connected as two large legs. The large leg-like connectors hooked into the mouths of Hyperion's halves, forming the bottom part of the Megazord. The arctic bear Koios folded its arms and legs inward, its back forming the thoracic and ventral plates of the Megazord. Tethys, too, split on a mid-saggital plane, the two halves of the mighty tiger forming right and left arms, her head becoming robot hands. Lastly, Okeanos the Leviathan attached to the back area of the robot, forming a spine of sorts, shoulder pads, and a robot head.

"Fury Fighter Megazord, online!" the 5 rangers chorused.

Quickly, Zhane initiated his Battle Mode sequence. It was almost the same Dustin's Zord's transformation. Its legs became arms while its arms became robot legs. The raptor head formed a pelvic guard and the robot head assembled from the under the tail that folded along the back.

"Mnemosyne Battle Mode, ready!" he reported.

Wes joined the party as well, his transformation much more simple. The Zord's hind legs rotated 180, forming robot legs, the front legs retracted to form robot arms, and the mane opened up to show a robot head that wound up into place from the torso of the battle mode.

"Iapetos Battle Mode, ready!" Wes joined in.

"Impressive," Hunter commented.

"Maybe we should back down," Andrea whispered to him.

"Nonsense," he assured her as a staff comprised of Prometheus' wings appeared in the Megazord's hand. "DragonWing Bow-Staff!"

"Solar Saber, online," Bridge announced as a saber made of his Phoenix Hyperion's red and yellow tails appeared in the Megazord's hand.

It swiftly blocked the swing of Draconis Megazord. Without missing a beat, Dustin's Themis Zord attacked with its twin feather sabers.

Draconis Megazord pulled back, smoking.

"Finish them!" Zeus's voice boomed from nowhere.

"I say we go for the final attack now," Wes opinionated.

"I'm all for it," Zhane agreed.

The other rangers nodded, but the Draconis Megazord blasted them away, the Dragon Theia's head now smoking from the expulsion of the laser beam.

"We're not finished yet," Andrea growled out as the fearsome Megazord returned for hand-to-hand.

It was no match for the other three Megazords, as it was quickly repelled.

"Solar Saber, split mode!" Sky shouted, the saber splitting down the middle and gathering sunlight.

"Feather Sabers, Cyclone Blitz!" Dustin boomed, his Zord throwing the sabers like spears.

Wes' Iapetos Zord opened its chest, allowing the Lion muzzle to show. A blast began to gather in its mouth.

"Lion Storm!" Wes yelled, his voice ragged.

His blast was joined by Zhane's firebolt blast, both of them surrounding Dustin's twin sabers, impacting on the Draconis Megazord.

The mighty zord was forced back into several buildings.

"Finish it!" Zhane urged the Fury Fighter.

Its sword reconnected and in a giant "Solar Slash!" the Draconis Megazord was disassembled, its pilots landing on the ground demorphed.

Quickly, the Fury Rangers returned to the ground, their zords disappearing.

"Careful guys…they could still be evil," Sky warned.

They stepped forward cautiously, but all three of them were unconscious. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then, at closer glance, a glow was discernable on their foreheads. Slowly but surely, the glow moved from their foreheads, forming balls of ranger colors and then landing on the ground.

"Their jewels…" Ryan gasped.

"We can take them to the house and reprogram them!" Bridge enthused.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, dear," a female voice said.

The rangers groaned, but Bridge couldn't believe his eyes.

"Skylar?"

His eyes fell upon a young woman with brown hair that stretched just past her shoulders. She was dressed in a custom SPD uniform and looked relieved to see him but like she had bad news.

"Long time no see, Bridgey," she mocked.

"Who is she?" Ryan asked.

"She's from the future. Her name is Skylar," Sky explained, his voice a little tense.

"And I've come to take you back," she informed them, her time portal closing and her ship landing with a _thud_.


	10. Remember the Titans, Part III

_**Chapter X**_**—**_**Remember the Titans, Part III **_

"Damn!" Zeus's voice echoed throughout the couloirs of the Olympian Palace.

Lightning and various bursts of air sprayed and slammed around him, giving his anger a tangible state.

"Honey, don't worry," Hera soothed him, rubbing his shoulder calmly.

"Remind me to never use an evil ranger plot again," he told her as he massaged his temples.

"Oh, I wouldn't say 'never,'" she purred.

"What do you mean?"

"The Time Quartz, dear; give it to the demigoddess child," she instructed him, her rubbing getting more ragged.

"A brilliant idea, beautiful," Zeus replied as he moved deeper into her claw-like nails that raked his skin.

"Well, I was taught by the best," she whispered.

—**X—**

Carter, Ryan, and Zhane weren't exactly being careful with the unconscious Eltarian royalty. As far as they were concerned, betrayal had destroyed any loyalty they'd had towards them.

"Where should we put them?" Zhane asked to no one in particular.

"Take them to the basement; I've recalibrated the Elemental Tubes they used to give us our powers so that the stones effect will be completely removed. Hopefully it'll work," Bridge answered, and then turned his attention to Skylar, "So you came from the future when SPD was absorbed?"

"Our future? Yes," answered Skylar, setting down her half empty mug of coffee and fixing Bridge with a forced look of complacency. "The survivors and those on outer-lying planets returned and regrouped in an underground facility. Me being the only ranger, we voted that I come back to find you two; we thought it was an orchestrated attack to get to you, Commander Tate."

"How many survivors are there?" Sky asked from the back, having been tense since her arrival several hours ago.

"Not many. Less than 200 and we're barely surviving. The storms haven't stopped."

"Wait, wait, what the hell is going on?" Zhane questioned, having returned from the basement.

"Trust me, if there's anything I've learned about Time Travel, it's that you don't want to know anymore than what you know now," Wes suggested.

"It seems like there's some greater force that's in charge of these storms, and what records we could gather of this time have been completely altered."

"How so?" Ryan piped up.

"I can't really say, the records change every day," Skylar shrugged.

"And you want us to just come back?" Sky asked.

"Sir, you're the only hope we have for restoring SPD. None of the other Morphers even function without the Delta Base. Our link to the Morphing Grid is pretty shot."

Sky stood from his leaning position, pacing the kitchen. "I'd like to explain the situation here, but I'm not sure I really know anymore."

"Yeah, Hunter kind of opened a whole new can of worms," Dustin sighed.

"Yeah, I know, talk about a shock of the century," Leo chimed in.

"But I thought Hunter was human? I mean, who are this guy's earthen parents?" Ryan questioned.

"Hunter was adopted when he was younger, but his adopted parents were killed by Lothor," Dustin explained.

"Lothor is a member of the United Alliance of Evil," Skylar added.

"Of which we have yet to determine who the overall ruler is," finished Commander Tate.

"Dark Specter, right?" Zhane asked, "Wasn't the UAE completely destroyed when Zordon was killed?"

"No, the members within range of Zordon's energy wave were purified or destroyed, but others survived," Skylar answered.

"Like Queen Bansheera and Trakeena," Ryan surmised.

"Exactly."

"What if the Chrominites are the leaders of the UAE?" Silver Fury Ranger Dustin asked.

"Chrominites? Why does the word sound familiar?" Skylar wondered.

"The Chrominites are dimensional menaces intent on ruling or destroying everything. Apparently, they are sworn enemies of the Eltarians rumored to have incredible powers that defined nature at one point in time," Sky stated.

"The Gods of Olympus?" Skylar asked, her shock flowing through her question.

"Yeah, them. We've been fighting their Demigod beasts for weeks," answered Carter.

"How?" Skylar demanded, standing from excitement.

"The Cronus Stone shards that Nike and Andrea gave us," responded Dustin.

"The Cronus Stone, of course!"

Skylar now began pacing the room in pure excitement, pushing her short brown hair from her face.

"In Greek Mythology, there was a great titan named Cronus who was the father of all the Gods and wife of his sister Rhea. He was the youngest of the second generation of Titans and he hated his father Ouranos because of all the power he had. So, when Ouranos hid several of his wife Gaia's more…not-so-beautiful children in Tartarus, Gaia encouraged Cronus to kill his father, but when Cronus tried to, he merely castrated his father."

Several of the rangers flinched, taking in a sharp breath and closing their legs just a bit tighter than usual.

Skylar ignored them and kept going.

"When the…remains of Ouranos' genitalia landed on earth, they formed mountains and the Goddess Aphrodite from the sea, and for this, he swore revenge on Cronus, telling him that his own children would revolt against him. So, when Cronus sired 6 children with his sister Rhea, he swallowed each one when they were born so they couldn't revolt. He swallowed them all but Zeus, who escaped—"

"Because Rhea substituted the rock in Zeus's clothes for him," Leo caught on.

"Exactly. An Omphalos stone. This stone drew powers from Cronus and the Gods inside him, so when Zeus attacked Cronus and freed his siblings, the newly freed rock absorbed powers from Zeus as well. And because Cronus obviously had something strange in his stomach, the stone continued to sample powers from every child that would be born from a God or Goddess."

She paused for dramatic effect and needed to be reminded several times by Sky to continue.

"When Zeus realized the stone had such power, he went after it, not wanting anyone to have powers that could counteract his own. Unfortunately for him, he realized it too late and the stone was kept on Eltar, where the sworn enemies of the Chrominites watched over it."

"They were the ones who locked the Chrominites out in the first place, right? The Eltarians?" Zhane asked.

"I'm assuming so. So whoever let them in is one stupid son of a—"

"So the Gods want the stone so no one can stop them?" Ryan half-shouted, cutting her off.

"Either that, or to set Cronus free. I'm curious as to why he hasn't been awakened already."

"Why would they want Cronus free? And why would he have already been awakened?" asked Leo.

"Well, Cronus is the ultimate power. If Zeus held the Cronus stone, both he and Cronus would be equal in respect and power, both ruling as 'kings' of their conquered land. Remember, the stone has powers from Cronus as well. But this mighty titan can only be set free when the Cronus Stone is reassembled and the chant is recited to release him. With him reborn, they would usher in another 'Golden Age' where they ruled all."

"Well…not all titans are bad, as we just saw. They're the siblings of Cronus, right?" the Gold Ranger, Wes, wondered.

"Yes, but they're not nearly as powerful as he is. Castrating Ouranos gave Cronus all of Ouranos's power. Castration was thought to be the act of separating Heaven, which was Ouranos' kingdom and embodiment, and Earth, which was Gaia's domain."

"So our only hope is the shards of this stone?" asked Bridge.

"Basically," Skylar answered.

"So how are Bridge and I supposed to come back with you if we're supposed to stay and destroy the Gods?"

"How do you kill a God?" Dustin asked.

"They're immortal. Somehow, we'll have to improvise. And to answer your question, Commander; we defeat the Chrominites, we save our time."

"We save everything," Leo added.

"Right."

-X-

The early morning began to take its place, 4:30 to be exact. All of Angel Grove was pretty quiet, save the few people in the all night café typing away like madmen. And in the midst of an overall quiet morning, a swirling orange portal opened in the middle of the street, an armored figure stepping out.

"So this is Angel Grove?" she muttered, glancing around.

Without another word, she unsheathed her sword and began randomly blasting buildings, careful not to kill anyone. She repeated the action, now destroying random cars that lined the streets or several lights; anything to cause mayhem. Still…it was boring to her.

-X-

Sleep was not coming to any of the rangers. All of them stayed in the living room awaiting the Eltarians or mulling over their brief history lesson. It was somewhat enlightening—knowing what they were fighting for. Skylar had given them more answers than Nike and Andrea had ever offered, and though none of the rangers really minded not knowing, they felt better with _some _knowledge.

"Who died?" Andrea asked, stepping out of the basement and seeing all the gloomy faces.

"Andrea!" could be made out from the cheers coming from the rangers, among various other phrases relating to "you're okay."

"I've gotta say…I'm honestly shocked this house isn't gone by now," Nike joined in, the room looking at her confusedly.

"It still hasn't been the same without you guys," Leo admitted. "What's with your hair?"

Nike rubbed her hair with her hand, observing the dark color of it. It had reverted to its natural brown color.

"Oh, I'm…naturally a brunette. The blond was mostly to keep people off mine and Andrea's trail," she explained with a small smile. "The Cronus energy from the stone must've put me back to my _complete _natural self."

"Did it work?" Bridge interrupted. "The procedure, I mean."

"What work?" Dustin questioned.

Skylar caught her breath before explaining _more _complexities. "Bridge unblocked the psychic output that every Eltarian possesses. When the Stones were originally implanted on their cerebral structure, they took over the Eltarian brain, building up all the psychic powers and causing these three to go…well…psych_o_."

Nike chuckled, "Yeah, what she said."

"It worked Bridge. Thanks," Andrea said, kissing him on the cheek. "In the meantime, let's get down to business."

Skylar frowned at the redhead's affection to her SPD comrade.

"Or get down to sleeping," Dustin suggested, "I'm exhausted. Besides, I think Zeus has his hands full trying to come up with a backup plan."

"I agree," Wes yawned.

"Well, where can I sleep?" Hunter asked, breaking his silent-streak.

"You can have my bed since you and Dustin know each other. I'll snag a couch."

"You sure, Wes?"

Wes nodded, stifling a yawn, "I'm not all hung up on this evil ranger stuff; it's in the past. Far as I'm concerned, we're starting on a new page."

Hunter offered his thanks, and after all "goodnights" were said, he followed Dustin to the room they'd be sharing for the night.

"Dustin…about what I said earlier…" Hunter paused.

"About it."

"I…I didn't mean it, really…I'm not quite sure where those thoughts came from."

"So then what did you mean?"

Hunter silenced and Dustin's silence spoke deafening volumes.

"That's not what I wanted to say at all, Dusty—"

"It's Dustin."

Hunter sighed. This wasn't going to go over well.

"_Dustin_, you do not understand at all. In my subconscious, I try to tell myself those things so that I don't like you so much…"

"What's wrong with me being a best friend? Why do you always have these walls that you keep up to try and keep everyone out? What did I do that was so—" but his sentence was caught in a moment's notice kiss.

Hunter pulled away quickly, "That's why."

A few blinks helped Dustin process the situation. Hunter, boy, best friend, kiss, not straight. BAM.

"Whoa. You just kissed me," Dustin mused, his voice sounding distant and distracted.

Hunter laughed nervously. "Yeah…"

"And you're straight," he continued in his distant voice.

He laughed again, "Ah-hah…about that…"

"I need to sit down," Dustin said faintly.

"What are you thinking?"

"I-I dunno. I'm wondering how I didn't see it. Why you didn't tell me. Why the _hell_ you just kissed me. And why I'm not upset about it."

Hunter remained silent. He was speechless, his stomach felt like it was devouring itself, and his ears rang with a constant tune of doubt and pessimism.

"Well how do you feel?" Hunter asked finally.

"I dunno how I feel. You're my best friend, dude. It'd just be so…_weird_ to like you. And that's even without the gay thing. I mean, it'd be like me dating Tori!"

"Dustin, you _did _want to date Tori for a while."

"Oh…yeah…well…I dunno. It'd be weird. I care about you a lot, I mean, you're my best friend, you've always been there for me in the past year…I just don't think I can let that go."

"Why would you have to let that go? We'd still be friends…only…"

"Different, right?"

"Yeah…guess you're right. Maybe we should just go to sleep."

The awkwardness of his statement lingered in the air before he laughed, "Sorry, I meant go to sleep in our own, _separate_ beds."

Dustin grinned, "Right."

—**X—**

Natasha was really starting to get angry. The cops had come to try and stop her and they kept firing their useless little weapons at her. She felt the urge to just put them out of their misery, but she knew that was Zeus talking, not her. She wasn't a murderer.

She took her sword and held it in front of her, then slammed the point into the ground which caused an enormous ripple of energy to knock back the cops.

"Go ahead, call your army; I love tanks."

The men and women of the Angel Grove Police Department cowered before her. They'd never had to fight a power ranger before…normally the rangers did that themselves. So why, exactly, weren't they here?

"Send in the tanks!" a wounded man shouted over his walkie-talkie.

Seconds later, her goddess hearing kicked in as she heard a formation—approximately 5 fighters—of jets headed her way. She smirked as she positioned herself ever-so-slightly and closed her eyes. In a flash, she was on the now "still" planes, as time had stopped for everyone she wanted it to. She noted how easy it would be to just drive the sword through the pilot and send him over to Hades. How easy it would be to completely wipe out mankind within the hour. And she quickly trashed the idea, fighting the Chrominite tendencies she had.

She got to business, inputting several commands on the lead jetfighter. This time, she did let out a small chuckle as she phased over to another jet and pressed play on life. Just as she had intended, the lead jetfighter's afterburners went off, blurring the view of the other fighters. Natasha closed her eyes and was instantly back on the ground, watching her work in the skies.

"Eject! Eject!" she could hear them screaming over the walkie-talkies.

She could hear the tanks before many could even see them, and she yawned as she outstretched her palm, a large orange blast fraying the edges of all 6 tanks. They were now treadless, trackless, and helpless as the pilots quickly abandoned the smoking metal trash.

The officers looked at her in horror as they suddenly realized the Power Rangers could no longer be trusted.

-X-

"What's that?" Zhane asked as they all met in the basement.

"An unidentified energy. Might as well go check it out," Nike said, fighting back a yawn.

"At 6:30 in the morning?" Leo mumbled.

"Ranger's gotta do what a ranger's gotta do," Sky said as he posed for a morph.

"Ready?" Wes asked.

"Ready!" They all said in unison.

"Nature's Fury, Release From in Me!"

—**X—**

As the rangers flipped onto the scene, they couldn't help but notice how deserted it was. There was nothing in sight.

"Are you sure the alarms are working right?" Leo asked groggily.

"I'm sure," Nike assured

"What the hell happened to my suit?" Andrea shrieked, looking at herself.

"Yeah, it definitely changed. At least you look like a girl now," Leo said.

"You are really pushing your luck, you know that, Aquaman!"

"What's that supposed to mean, super-bitch?"

Someone was definitely grouchy.

"Oh, like you can talk Mr. Limp Fish!"

Nike gasped. "That was low..." she said.

"I am not limp, you just aren't attractive," Leo said simply.

Skylar's head felt it like it was about to explode as she looked back and forth between the two competitors.

That did it, Andrea was on the warpath. "Why you bigheaded, washed up has-been of a white ranger-" she started.

"Hey!" Nike yelled, "Cool it."

Andrea mumbled as she looked herself over. Instead of red trimmings she had pink trimming, she now had one belt as opposed to two, the horns on her helmet went from red to pink, and green spandex with pink trims now covered her legs under a white and pink skirt that split down the middle. A metallic bustier of sorts wrapped around her midriff and the stripes present on the other rangers' suits were now on hers, only an additional three had been added due to the changing of numbers on the team. On her right shoulder was her Astral Rune, and on her left breast was the Astral Insignia that resembled two upside-down crescents. She wore two short gloves on her hands, each with arrows identical to the other rangers', along with spiked knuckle braces at the base of each finger. The two elbow pads and high-heeled boots set her apart from the rest of the rangers easily and made her resemble a female even more. She definitely looked like a hero. A female hero.

Nike's outfit had changed as well, being that the black vest on her chest and spike cuffs on her arms were gone and replaced by a black bustier with red ventral paneling, and black elbow pads with serrated gauntlets that led down to her hand and the arrow found on everyone else's suits. The horns on her helmet had reduced to two, and instead of pants, she wore the classic spandex like her sister and a side-split red and black skirt. Another thing she shared with her sister were the lethal looking heeled-boots, the new stripes, runes, and sigils, and a v-neck collar.

"I think the suits look great," Zhane said.

"Thanks," Nike and Andrea said at the same time.

"Why didn't yours change, Hunter?" Dustin asked.

"I dunno, I was wondering the same thing."

"Guess you look like a guy either way," Bridge commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I'm picking up some life-forces over there," Sky said to everyone.

The Rangers and Skylar began to converge on the location until the sight of disruption was obvious. In the middle of the street stood yet another ranger, her sword outstretched with energy radiating from it. Dozens of destroyed cars belonging to civilians and police alike decorated the streets, whereas shrapnel and scrap metal was strewn throughout the fields around the area. One building was completely devastated by…a jetfighter sticking out of it?

"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing!" Skylar screamed upon seeing the devastation.

The ranger slowly turned around. "Oh, I apologize…I seem to have left my manners on Imperious. I am the Orange Temporal Ranger, daughter of the Gods and holder of the Time Quartz."

"Charmed. We're the Power Rangers. Mind telling us why you just went on a destruction spree?" Andrea shot back.

While several rangers stayed put, the others went to aid the wounded, though not much could be done. Strangely enough, no one was mortally wounded.

"Everything's gonna be okay, just stay calm," Hunter was soothing someone.

The civilian inched away from Hunter, a look of pure fear plastered across his face.

"No, traitor, everything is _not _going to be okay. That is, unless you give me the stones," Natasha corrected.

"Why do you freaks even bother asking anymore? Obviously we're not giving them up!" retaliated the Blue Fury Ranger, Zhane.

"Then I suppose you leave me no choice, Rangers," Natasha taunted.

She reappeared in front of the rangers, her hands held out. Seconds later, energy built up and shot out at them and catching them off guard. Quickly, Bridge managed to block Skylar but was inadvertently hit, sending him reeling backwards with the other 10 rangers.

"Well that hurt," Dustin groaned as he sat up.

She gave them no time to even stand. Large beams of electrical energy struck them from her sword and she slammed them even further into the ground, a crater of sorts now forming.

"Give. Me. The Stones."

"Bite me," Andrea growled as she charged the Orange Ranger.

They rapidly engaged in hand to hand combat, the blows invisible to the regular human eye. Small pockets of air began slamming together around them as Natasha began to gain the upper hand. She twisted Andrea's arm, then slammed her kneecap into the back of Andrea's knee, forcing her to the ground. Then, mercilessly, she opened her palm and blasted her in the back several times until her body fell limp to the ground.

Nike rushed forward, Hunter and several others by her side. All at once they began attacking her to no avail.

"I can't touch her! Even when I _know _my fist hit her, it just goes through her," Dustin complained to Hunter as he waited for an opening in the fight. She was currently slamming Ryan and Leo together after she'd kicked Carter into a large stone pillar.

Hunter and Dustin found the break, but it was no use. She slashed out with her sword; a rope of tangled orange energy picked them up into the air and slammed them into each other while electrocuting them. She laughed as she threw them through the window of a large bank, causing the front face of the building to crumble.

"This is pathetic. Give me the stones or I will destroy the rest of the solar system, leaving Earth completely alone and vulnerable to an assault."

The rangers regrouped, their armor smoking.

"You know the end is inevitable; you can't beat time, rangers, and you sure as hell cannot kill a goddess. You have an hour to decide," the Orange Ranger said as she disappeared in a swirling orange portal.


	11. Emotions Are Overrated

_**Chapter XI—Emotions are Overrated**_

"So…what the hell was that all about? Why would she leave when she was winning?" Leo demanded angrily.

"She can't kill any inhabitants of the planet that the stones rest upon," answered Andrea as she stood up, dusting herself off.

"Well how does she know she didn't hurt anyone in that building?"

"Look, I don't know. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Well arguing isn't getting us any answers. We have one hour to prepare for her," Skylar jutted in.

Andrea stopped dusting herself and fixed Skylar with an annoyed stare; "Please don't come in here and start shouting orders, Miss Future."

Skylar opened her mouth to return the banter, but Nike stepped in.

"Let's regroup back at the house. Maybe I can find out who this woman is."

The rest of the rangers merely nodded as they teleported away in flashes of their colors.

-XI-

"They have been warned, _Zeus_," Natasha informed him.

Zeus smirked in his throne as he thought of the power soon to be given to him.

"Once I have the stones, I will awaken Cronus and release a terror to all dimensions that hasn't been seen in millenniums."

Natasha glared behind her visor, "No thanks to you," she muttered.

"Pardon?"

"All thanks to you," she corrected, louder.

His eyes twinkled as he sat back in his throne again.

"When you return to Earth, take Rhea with you for a test drive."

It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.

"As you command, _Zeus_."

She didn't understand why he couldn't be her father. She hated Hera with all her being, but she didn't understand why Hera couldn't know of Zeus' many flings. Getting mortals pregnant was something he did frequently, only to have the Fates eradicate their birth. She knew she was lucky. If the Fates hadn't been pissed about Zeus' marriage to Hera, she would've ended up like all the unborn children he'd already done away with. Just thinking about it made her seethe with anger as she made her way down to the depths of the underworld. Talking to her uncle Hades always made things better.

"Well, look who it is. The orange ranger herself," Hades greeted her, moving himself away from the river of souls that flowed through his gloomy cavern.

Natasha looked at her uncle. As usual, his hair stood a good 2 or 3 inches off his head, spiked lethally, while matching the rest of his black clothing and armor.

"Yes," she shrugged him off, unable to fight the feeble grin that came to her face.

"Something's wrong, huh?" he asked, taking a seat in a bone-made chair.

She slumped down.

"I grow tired of being Zeus' puppet. What good is immortality if I have nothing to…" she stopped, "Never mind."

"Something to what?"

She remained silent.

"Someone to show for it?"

Still no answer.

Hades sighed heavily, putting a hand on her leg. "Listen kid, immortality isn't meant to be measured in progress—you just _don't _measure immortality. And I know the thing you struggle most with is your emotions, you know, since you got that whole lack of love thing goin on. There's not much I know about love. Hell, I was only married once and she liked pomegranate more than she liked me, so…I'm not the best to get advice from…"

Natasha smirked at the thought of Persephone and her pomegranate seeds.

"You're not like them, you know that, right?" Hades asked, his icy eyes seeming to look through her.

"Sometimes I wish I was…that way I wouldn't have to _worry _about these damned emotions."

"Look; they preach about how emotions make you weak, and how a true God doesn't need them. Fuck that. I would give my immortality to live like a mortal. They have such a value for life, and they have something to _want _to be immortal for. Why the hell do we need immortality? I'll tell you why; to conquer. It's in our blood. But you, kid, you got a shot. You're part mortal, and you've got something that we'll never have…and that's heart."

Natasha looked up at her uncle, his look one of sincerity. It was amazing how much emotion the God of Death could have, especially for an immortal.

"Thank you…" she whispered, hugging him.

He patted her back and cleared his throat, "Alright, enough of that mushy human stuff. What're you gonna do about the rangers?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure I want to fight anymore. I also grow tired of conquering and having nothing for which to fight. It is simply…repetitive and…void of anything."

"Alright…I'm probably going to regret this for about 6 millennia, but Tasha…you gotta get away from this place. There's so much more you could do. You have a piece of the _Cronus Stone_. Do you _know _what that means?"

She shook her head.

"Zeus can't kill you while you have that piece of the stone. If he does, he'll never be able to control Cronus or even compete with him. You don't need Zeus, he needs you."

An epiphany began to dawn on her.

"So you want me to…to join the rangers?"

Hades didn't answer immediately. He stood and rubbed his temples, then began to pace.

"Natasha, you're the closest I've come to caring about someone. Fuck Zeus and fuck the rest of the Chrominites. I don't give a damn about any of them, and if it hadn't been for you, I would've left a long time ago. But Zeus is more powerful than me, and he's always had a form of control over me…so in a way, I'm living vicariously through you. If you get out there, if you _fight _for something bigger than destroying and conquering, and you become something better than _any _of us, then Zeus could imprison me forever and I would be content."

She stood, feeling inspired.

"You are correct!" It was funny how even in her moments of inspiration, Natasha still sounded so inhuman. "This ends now."

She embraced her uncle and was about to leave when he stopped her.

"Before you go, you should know who your mortal mother is so you can find her…"

She stood still. Somewhere in the need for being wanted, she'd forgotten about her mortal _parent_.

"You know her?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I _am _Zeus's brother, after all."

"Well, why didn't you inform me sooner?"

"Would you have wanted to know before? What good what it have done?"

Natasha remained silent.

"Zeus thought it would be a good idea to manipulate one of Zordon's chosen few, so he targeted two of the originals; Kimberly and Aisha."

"Aisha, the second Yellow Ranger?"

"Spirit of the bear; that's her."

Natasha sat down again. It was all too much to handle. A _real _parent! Just 20 minutes ago she thought she'd never feel like she had a family, and now she suddenly had a parent?

"A lot to process, huh?" Hades questioned, sitting down in front of her.

She merely nodded.

"Don't worry; it'll all work itself out."

She smiled weakly.

"Don't forget about your big mission, now."

Her head snapped up.

"I am intended to procure Rhea!"

Hades eyes flickered.

"Rhea? What do you mean 'procure' her? Zeus doesn't want you to…?"

"Yes…Zeus wants me to take her to Earth to fight the rangers."

Hades thought this over.

"That lowdown, power-hungry bastard! He would even use our own _mother_ to get those damned stones…"

"It would seem we are in agreement in our opinions of him."

"No, Tasha…it may not be such a good idea to go up against Zeus," Hades began.

"You got that right," came Hephaestus' gruff voice.

Hades spun around. "What the hell do you think you're doing down here?"

"I don't think that really matters, now does it?" The God of Volcanoes and Weaponry asked in his thick Scottish accent.

"Get out of here, you crippled old fool!" Hades shouted once more.

"Or what? You'll sic the little demigoddess bitch on us?" Eos, the god of the dawn teased.

Hades eyes widened. He could sense this was getting worse and worse by the second, especially with Eos's heightened Titan abilities.

"C'mon, let's go pay Zeus a little visit before your _emotions_ take over," they laughed.

Natasha's fist balled. "Have you nothing better to do? I am rather certain Zeus's ass always needs more kissing."

They stopped their laughter short and looked at each other, obviously annoyed.

"Don't make us force you up there," Hephaestus warned her.

"Natasha," Hades began, stepping up and squaring off with them, "I want you to get out of here. Take Rhea and go. And don't come back."

"That decision is completely irrational; they will destroy you and imprison you in Tartarus."

"Don't come back! Do you promise?"

"Hades, please!"

Hephaestus and Eos charged, but Hades flicked his wrist at them, blasting them backwards with a dark colored energy wave.

"What will happen to you? What if Zeus ends up making us fight?"

"Zeus could never make me fight you, kid. Not in a million millennia."

She searched his bright blue eyes and found the security in there she'd needed.

"I'll not only fight: I will win. And I promise I will give us something for which to live."

With that, she left, on her way to start a new life. A new fight. And hopefully, make a new world.

-XI-

"I really don't know if we can beat her, you guys," Sky sighed.

"Not trying isn't going to help, and I'm willing to bet she'll make good on her offer," Skylar replied.

"That's easy for you to say; you're not out there getting blasted and manhandled," Carter retorted as he mended his bloody elbow.

"Can't we just stomp on her with the Titans and get it over with?" Dustin asked as he winced from the alcohol pad Andrea was applying to his wound.

"NO!" Nike and Andrea interjected.

"Do you not know about the 3 rules of being a ranger?" Screeched Andrea.

"Do you not know that my father would strip you of your power for that kind of talk?"

"Do you not know what would happen if we just stepped on her?"

"And do you not know—" Nike was cut off.

"Hey!" Hunter shouted, "We get it. It was just a suggestion, no need to grill him over it."

Dustin looked thankful for the save, but Andrea abandoned mending him to check on her computer.

"So…anyway," Bridge started, "How are we supposed to beat her if we can't even lay a finger on her?"

Andrea spun around from her computer. "Her stone."

Everyone looked curious.

"Nike and I didn't design a morpher for her to use, which explains why she's much more powerful than we are. She's using the raw energy of the stone; pure, unfiltered Cronus Energy, which is way too dangerous for a mortal to use. _But_, because her stone is not inside her body like ours, she must be carrying it somewhere on her."

"So your plan is to steal her stone!" Skylar caught on.

"Exactly," Andrea replied.

"But how do we do that? I'm sure she's not gonna let us just grab it," Carter asked.

"Well, now's our chance to find out. Look!" Ryan said, pointing at the screen.

Sure enough, it was the Orange Ranger, riding on top of an enormous Pegasus Zord.

"Looks like we get to stomp her _anyway_," Dustin rubbed it in, glaring at Andrea and Nike.

"Let's get our asses in those zords!" Carter ordered.

"Then how are we going to get the stone?" Skylar asked.

"I'll teleport you," Nike said.

"What? Me?"

"I'll teleport you into her Zord. And just in case, I'll surround you with a shield, but it won't last long."

"It should only take me a second."

With a few nods, the rangers suited up and summoned their zords, ready to tackle the enemy.

-X-

She could feel him, inside her mind, controlling her every movement. Zeus had controlled her so easily. She thought she could escape him on her way down to Angel Grove, but Helios and Selene, God and Goddess of the sun and moon respectively and siblings to Eos were cornering her. Inevitably, she was captured and brought to Zeus where she begged him to release Hades, whom he was suspending in midair by strands of lightning. Of course, he didn't listen, but he did turn to her and give her a 'proper' tending. She was easily overpowered by him and was unable to resist him once he'd taken over her mind and body.

"You are _mine_," he snarled to her in her mind.

And though she wanted to scream at him, wanted to destroy every trace of him, she couldn't fight him. Somewhere inside her, she knew she would always belong to him. And a very small, small part of her didn't mind. She was, after all, his daughter.

"Pegasus Zord, fighter mode, engage," she ordered in a monotone voice.

"I'd watch that command if I were you, Reject Ranger!" Andrea warned her, the Dragonic Megazord standing in front of her.

But the Pegasus Zord was already transforming into a formidable opponent.

"Oh no, Eltarian Scum, it is _you _who should watch yourself," she retorted.

The Pegasus Zord began to glow as its cannons prepared to fire.

"NOW SKYLAR!" Nike shouted.

In a flash of color, Skylar was behind the Orange Ranger atop the Megazord. It sure was a long way down, and heights were never her specialty. But then she noticed something gleaming in the hilt of the orange ranger's sword that was mounted on her back.

"The stone…" she whispered to herself.

If it weren't for the wind, the orange ranger probably would've heard her.

So, bravely, Skylar stepped forward, and quickly pulled the stone from the sword hilt. Immediately, something happened.

The Zord stopped, the cannons died down, and the Orange Ranger began to flicker.

"No!" she screamed in a dual voice.

She withdrew her sword and slashed at Skylar with all her might, but something amazing happened. Nike's energy shield shattered in a spray of purple, but in her rage, Natasha had struck the Stone that she was holding up. It frayed in two halves, sending a ripple of energy that knocked them both from the giant Megazord.

"Skylar!" Bridge called out, ordering the Fury Fighter's hand to catch her.

In the nick of time, the hand supported both her and Natasha. But something was happening…a pink glow was emitting from the fragment that Skylar held and it was engulfing her.

"What's…happening?" he wondered.

"I don't believe it…" Andrea muttered, "It's making her a Fury Ranger!"


	12. The Severed and New Links

**Chapter XII—The Severed and New Links **

Skylar's head felt like it was about to explode and her body seemed to be physically splitting in two. An annoying humming noise continuously rang in her eardrums and there was an odd light that kept blinding her every time she tried to open her eyes.

_So this is what death feels like_, she wondered to herself. Yet, seconds after the thought had registered, she could see no more and everything went black…

When she opened her eyes she had no idea where she was. There was a faint shimmer and an odd looking man standing at the far corner of the box-like room she was now in. Odd wouldn't be a justifiable word; the man was handsome, no doubt that, but the diamond in the center of his head, the shaggy, forehead-length blond hair, and piercing blue eyes gave her a mystical impression.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly, eerily almost.

"Who are _you_?" he asked wisely, his voice a bit gruff and fitting for his youthful appearance.

"My name is Skylar Oliver; SPD Nova Ranger," she replied a little defensively, "Where are we?"

"No place you haven't been before, Skylar," he responded with a small grin.

She cocked an eyebrow, "Okay…well what happened to that Orange Ranger chick? And the Fury Rangers?"

"Ah, yes…the fury rangers. If by the Fury Rangers you mean the _other _Fury Rangers, I suppose they're fine."

"Other?" Skylar asked, standing from her sitting position on the pristine white floor.

The man opened his hand, signaling that she should do the same, at which point she did so. Sure enough, in her palm was a small stone, radiating with a pink brilliance; the sensation around her hand was unmistakably unique and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

"You mean…me? A Fury Ranger?"

He nodded.

"No, this isn't supposed to happen, I have a _future _I have to get back to!" she explained, outraged, "This is _not _what I came here for!"

She tossed the stone on the ground angrily, causing the man to cock his head to the side with a look of curiosity.

"But you came looking for help, didn't you?" he asked sincerely.

"Yeah, but not in the form of myself!" she shouted.

"Tell me Skylar; what _is _supposed to happen? You seem to have such a knowledgeable clutch on the future, so please, enlighten me," he requested.

She gave him a look of annoyance, "I don't have time for your games. How the hell do I get out of here?"

Now the man did not look too pleased; "You would let your own ambitions get in the way of the entire universe in all its dimensional planes?"

She scoffed, "They're not _my _ambitions! There're people in the future _dying _because I'm here playing 20 questions with some Star Wars-looking-Backstreet Boy reject! I _hardly _call that _my _ambition; _you _are the one keeping me here and allowing people to **die**."

He smirked, "Obviously, you have no clue of how important your Fury Ranger role is."

She marched up to him, swinging a firm open palm to him, but he caught her arm effortlessly.

"You'll need to learn to control your emotions; your stone feeds off it," he instructed, his gaze meeting her fear-stricken eyes.

"What do you want with me?" she asked lethally.

"I want you to be a Fury Ranger, and I want you to deliver a message for me," he told her calmly.

"A message?"

"Yes, all of you need to come to Infernus; it's a planet on the inner rim of the Kerovan galaxy. Zhane should be able to get you there easily," he said, letting her go.

"Why Infernus?" she asked.

He gave her no reply, then, his cloak flew up over his head and he responded; "Destiny."

With that, in a shimmer of green, he was gone…

-XII-

Bridge paced back and forth outside the door to the basement. True it was barely dawn, but none of the rangers had been able to sleep since Skylar's encounter with the mysterious Orange Ranger, who also lay unconscious in behind the door.

"What do you think could be going on?" Bridge asked, his question directed to no one in particular.

Sky shrugged, "Not sure."

Ryan fidgeted a little as he thought, his fingers tapping the stair rail; "Maybe they're recalibrating the stones?"

Everyone looked a little shocked by the suggestion, but it seemed the most logical. Andrea and Nike had been in there for quite a while, and neither of them had emerged since.

"Well, whatever they're doing, we have to trust they'll get it done soon; something tells me Zeus isn't going to be too happy about losing his ranger puppet," Hunter said ominously.

-XII-

A thick, bright bolt of lightning flew through the corridor, striking the marble wall and shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

"I _knew _this was a bad idea!" Zeus screamed.

Hera cowered in fear, for she knew she would blamed for suggesting Natasha in the first place; "Darling, no matter how many of them there are, we're _Gods_; they'll never win."

Zeus' electric eyes shot towards her, and then he jutted his palm out, causing a powerful force to knock Hera into the wall and hold her there firmly.

"Well neither will we."

Her eyes were wide with fear; Zeus had been angry before, but he'd never been _this _angry.

"Sir, I just picked up a transmission Aphrodite; things are ready on Infernus," Eos said, bowing.

Zeus let Hera fall; "Excellent."

Rubbing her neck spitefully, Hera glared at him as she stood up to regain her composure.

"Are you alright my liege?" Eos whispered as Zeus began exiting the room.

She nodded as she began to stand.

"Eos!" Zeus called, his back facing Eos as he peered out over Mount Imperious.

"Yes sir?"

"Gather up the Gods; we're taking a little field trip to Infernus."

Eos nodded and left the demolished corridor.

"What're you up too, old fool?" Zeus wondered quietly to himself, looking even deeper into the greenish colored pre-dawn sky.

-XII-

"Why did they need that demigoddess girl too?" Bridge kept up his questions.

"Probably to see if there were any side-effects on Skylar from the stone," Ryan offered.

"But Andrea already said that one of the fragments was making her a fury ranger."

"Yeah, but it's _raw _energy, Bridge; Skylar's only human," Leo reminded him gently.

Bridge wasn't stupid, he knew that. He just couldn't figure out why they needed the Orange Ranger, after everything she'd already done.

"Isn't there some way we can help? Maybe put her in one of the same tubes we were put in?" Carter suggested.

"No; Skylar's case is different. She's already been in contact with the stone for nearly an hour, whereas we'd never even touched the stone. She's probably already got too much Cronus energy in her—" Sky was cut off by a rather emotional Bridge.

"She has _not_! Nike and Andrea can take the energy from her, they just need to transfer it all into something that can hold it."

Everyone was slightly taken aback by Bridge's outburst.

"Bridge…you're talking about whipping up a Morpher with enough capacity to hold the Titan of Chaos's power. Not to mention, they've got to do it within the next two hours…otherwise…" Sky let his sentence hang.

But Bridge had no intention of hearing the rest of it anyway. In a tirade of frustration, he shot up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind him.

"Maybe someone should go after him?" Dustin asked, scratching his head absently.

Sky sent him an annoyed glare; "Ya think?"

"Well, I'm just sayin', dude, he's not exactly the happiest person right now. He's _totally _crushin' on Skylar."

A look of sickness hit Sky, but he regained his composure quickly and began to run up the stairs; "Save your love-advice for _Teen People_."

"What's his deal?" Hunter asked his ninja friend.

"No clue."

-XII-

Light began to filter into her blurry vision. This was definitely NOT Mount Imperious; something was wrong. She looked down at her hands and noticed they'd been shackled, which was rather stupid as she had strength like no other. She looked over to her right and saw the same girl that had broken her stone. She appeared to be either in a deep sleep or dead; Natasha couldn't tell. All she knew was that she couldn't have been more thankful to the girl. She had unknowingly severed Zeus' mental link to Natasha and freed her from Zeus suffocating grip; Skylar had liberated Natasha.

"Hey, look…she's awake," Natasha heard the shorter, redhead say.

"Well, well," the brunette one came towards her, "Care to submit to a little Q&A?"

"I will submit."

The female stopped smirking and gave her green-clad comrade a confused look.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. It is quite possible my information can assist you in your conquest," Natasha said earnestly but emotionlessly. She didn't have the slightest clue of the word 'skepticism.' She was going to have a lot to learn about Earth.

"Don't play coy with us," Andrea warned. "Are you really going to answer?"

Natasha furrowed her thin eyebrows, "Did I not make my intentions of stopping Zeus clear?" She paused, "I believe I want to stop him more than any living being."

"Wait…two hours ago you were just destroying Angel Grove and threatening to blow up the rest of Solar System; now you're some rebel goddess that wants to be a heroine? I don't believe that for a second."

"Andrea, wait," Nike asked calmly; "What's your name?"

"Natasha Simmons; I'm the daughter of Zeus and a mortal called Aisha Campbell. And you two are the Eltarian females, correct?"

"We are. I'm Nike and this is my sister Andrea" Nike answered, sounding very much like a mother. "Natasha…you said Aisha is your mother? Meaning you are indeed a demigoddess?"

"Yes."

Nike nodded, jotting something down on paper before turning to Andrea. "Can you bring these up for me?"

"You always ask the impossible," Andrea said with a groan, walking over to the mainframe.

"In the meantime, Natasha…do you have any idea what happened with you and Skylar?"

Natasha assumed Nike meant the other girl in the room, "Well…I do know she's freed me from Zeus' control. Back there, with the Zords; I was being manipulated. Zeus had a mental influence over me through the stone fragment I held—I could not fight him. But when she shattered the stone, it split my powers evenly; now, Skylar has immortal blood running through her _and _Cronus energy."

Andrea spun around; "So you're only a quarter-goddess?"

"Not exactly. When I had the stone, it boosted my demigoddess powers to that of a full-fledged Goddess, which is why I was able to take on all 11 of you at once. When Skylar split the stone in two, half of the Goddess in me went to her, and so-forth."

Nike rubbed her forehead, "Strange. Anyway…what my sister here is in the process of doing is she is creating very experimental morphers, so to speak. They will hold the stone but will not be able to hold its energy; it's only so that no one can grab the stone from you without taking the morpher off, which will be physically impossible."

Natasha let on her smallest smile imaginable and then she stopped to think; "Why are you doing this? After everything I've done…why are you helping me?"

"Because you're going to help us. I know it," Nike said with a kind smile.

—**XII—**

Andrea and Nike immediately rushed Skylar with news. She was now a ranger. She would also have an experimental morpher to hold her half of the stone to keep people from stealing it. She was going to be a ranger. That was the main thing that stood out to her. Ranger. The weird guy was right.

"Guys, I need to tell you something," she broke in, finally ending their newsflash.

"What's wrong?" Andrea asked immediately.

Skylar retold her story to Andrea and Nike; they seemed a little skeptical at first, and afterwards, they needed to grab some paper and a pen to jot down notes. So, she retold it several times, holding her questions about the now fully conscious and present Orange Ranger. She'd been getting tired of telling it time and time again, but the sisters insisted on it. Each time, they drew new conclusions or built on to an old one. She never even got her chance to tell the others she was fine.

"So, you basically had a vision of a guy telling us to come to Infernus?" Nike summed up, scribbling on her notepad again.

"Yes," Skylar answered slowly, "He said he was a friend and that Zhane would know how to get to Infernus."

"That makes sense; Zhane is from KO-35, a planet of the Kerovan Galaxy. But Infernus? It's the closest planet to the Kerovan suns," Andrea questioned.

"That's what the man said; I think we should do it," Skylar said, "He seemed dead-set on it."

"Fine; tell the others to pack their bags," Nike said after a few moments of thought.

"But who will protect Earth against the Chrominites?" Andrea asked.

Almost as if on cue, the super computer began whirring, signifying a change in the Earth's Geography.

"I don't believe it," Nike muttered. "The Chrominites are _leaving_."

"What?" Natasha demanded.

"Computer, track trajectory of Mount Imperious," Nike ordered.

On screen, an image of a mountain uprooting from Earth began to fly into the atmosphere.

"Exact trajectory unknown," the male computerized voice informed her.

"Approximate," Skylar ordered quickly.

The computer was quiet for a few moments, then; "Approximate destination; Solaris Prime, point-six-four westward vectors to current position."

"Solaris Prime…that must be the Kerovan sun in cycle with Infernus!" Nike summed up.

"Well, guess that means we're taking a vacation to Infernus," Skylar said as she began to open the door.

"They'll want that. How do you know this guy wasn't Zeus in your dreams?" Natasha interrogated her.

"How could Zeus have been in my dreams?"

"Zeus had mind control over me, and when you broke the stone, it severed my link, but I don't know if he now has one for you."

Skylar locked eyes with Natasha. "We'll just have to pray."

—**XII—**

Ryan needed to recap the past few weeks because he still couldn't believe he was on the Astro Megaship Mach II with rangers from different places, times, and even _mortalities_. (1) Kissing Carter by accident (2) Finding the lost children of Zordon (3) An Orange Ranger and now a Pink one (4) and now heading to Infernus because of some bogus vision?

He sighed aloud as he rolled over in his on-board bunk. The flight to Infernus would take the rest of the day, but he'd be fine with that; the worst part of it all had to be bearing the awkwardness between himself and Carter. But…that was another story; he didn't even want to think about the complications it could cause on the battlefield or among the other rangers.

"Knock, knock," came Wes' voice from the doorway.

"Hey."

"You seem down, dude, what's up?"

"Not much, just…thinking; everything's so surreal lately," Ryan said, then added, "even for a ranger."

"Yeah, I guess so. And what about Carter?"

Ryan looked alarmed. "What about him?"

Wes smirked. "Ryan…he's been talking about what happened for awhile now."

"Great."

"Well what's up with it? I mean…are you…you know…into him?" Wes asked slowly.

"I…I don't know. Ever since I joined Lightspeed I've been confused as to how you draw a line between friendships and relationships; I'd never had friends or a relationship before I joined, so I never knew…and Carter's been my best friend for so long that I guess I just felt…I dunno."

"I see."

"I dunno, I'll figure it out."

"Well if you need someone to talk to, I'm—" he was cut off as the ship rocked with an explosive force.

"All rangers report to the bridge, all rangers report to the bridge," Deca.'s voice came from over the intercom.

—**XII—**

Infernus was a hot, reddish, rainforest-like planet with massive deserts surrounding its lush vegetative areas. Its position along the inner rim of the Kerova Galaxy set it so that it received constant daylight from at least one of Kerova's trinity of suns: Solaris Prime, Solaris Duo, and Solaris Trice. Its sinister atmosphere was just an omen of what lied underneath the surface…

"Things are going just as planned," Aphrodite giggled, fixing her red bob hairstyle and batting her turquoise eyes.

"Not everything goes according to plan," her prisoner spat.

"Oh shut up," she dismissed idly, "my father will take care of you before the rangers even know you're alive."

The man smirked, his icy blue eyes seeming to look through her façade of confidence.

"Your father couldn't keep up with me if he stole Ares' body."

Aphrodite spun around on her heel, grabbing her staff. "Let's not get hasty, okay?"

"Right."

She set her staff down carefully, picking up her transmitter. "D, how much longer until you get here?"

A woman's sigh was heard from the transmitter; "Well, it depends; is the old poof there yet?"

"Oh, he is, but he's not old at all…" Aphrodite smiled at him seductively, "He's actually quite cute."

"D" laughed shrilly. "Yeah right; I'll believe that when I see it."

The man hid a grin that was overcoming his face; if only Aphrodite knew…

"Do you have the others with you?" Aphrodite questioned.

"Yep, we just got little Miss _Princess_ who wants to change her mind every 2 seconds," the woman groaned.

"As long as you're all here; father will need them to bring back the brothers," Aphrodite spoke as she ended the transmission.

"If only you had a clue of what was in store for you," Aphrodite mocked him, tracing a finger along his chiseled, gruff face.

He tore away from her. "Oh no, Aphrodite; if only _you _knew."

She slapped him suddenly, fixing him with a stern glare. "Look here, Zordon; don't think I won't torture you before father gets what he wants from you."


	13. The End of the Thunderstorm

_**Chapter XIII—End of the Thunderstorm**_

Natasha urgently took her station on the vast bridge of the ship. There just _happened _to be a total of 13 stations to man, luckily, for operational flight, only 2 were needed. However, in such a dangerous situation, all 13 rangers would be needed.

"Shields at 88 percent and falling!" Andrea reported over the loud crashing sounds outside.

"I can't find a target!" Skylar shouted.

"Check the electromagnetic radar!" Purple Lunar Ranger Nike ordered.

The Black Ranger, Hunter, hurriedly checked the radar, the screen still blank.

"Nothing, sis!" he said, getting aggravated.

The bridge doors slid open as Ryan, Wes, and Leo entered, all of them having been elsewhere on the ship.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked.

"We're under some sort of fire," Bridge informed him.

"What've we got?" questioned Wes as he took his station next to Sky.

Sky angrily pushed the control stick back into its neutral position as he turned to Wes, "Nada; whatever's attacking us is completely undetectable."

"Deca, trace laser origination points," Zhane commanded from his station near Dustin.

"Affirmative," she beeped out.

Suddenly, however, the lasers stopped.

"Zhane, there is no laser fire to trace," she responded after a few moments of silence.

"They're on to us."

Abruptly, however, the viewing screen popped up, showing them a _very _familiar woman.

"Divatox!" Zhane shouted upon seeing her.

"Well, well, a ship full of rangers ready for the sinking!" she squealed, "Oh, the thought is almost too orgasmic to ponder."

The new team of rangers warily exchanged looks.

Divatox was suddenly pushed away, "Listen here, Rangers; this is a _restricted_ area. The penalty for entering this area…is destruction," the being said.

"Who…is that?" Wes asked slowly.

"Astronema," Zhane and Leo gasped.

-XIII-

Zeus observed Infernus; its hideous climate would make the perfect backdrop for Zordon's ultimate demise. It was still hard for the almighty God to fathom Zordon's existence in the first place. After Andros seemingly destroyed him in 1999, Zeus never thought he'd have to see the pompous Eltarian king again. Sadly, he was mistaken.

He'd heard Hermes explain it to him several times, but it was still hard for him to understand. Apparently, Zordon's energy tube only linked him to the 3rd dimension, and when that link was severed and Rita was reverted to good, the spell she placed upon Zordon was lifted, returning him to his natural form; a 10,025 year-old Eltarian. How he was back in the 3rd dimension was something even Zeus could not explain.

"Zeus…Divatox, Astronema, Zed, Diabolico, and Rita have apprehended the rangers," Apollo informed his father.

Zeus smiled, his back still to the dark-skinned God of the sun.

"Perfect."

"Shall we set up?" Apollo questioned.

"Yes," Zeus said, then paused, "And…just in case those failures screw up yet again, send Ares on patrol."

Apollo nodded, and then left.

Zeus turned his attention back to Infernus' heat-ridden atmosphere, "Soon…soon, it'll all be over."

-XIII-

Somehow, the rangers had ended up in front of a large force-field-surrounded planet that had a reddish hue. The horde of villains that had "captured" them was easily dodged by the speed of the Astro Megaship Mach II, especially when the villains hadn't known it was coming.

"Now what?" Andrea asked after trying several times to blast the field.

"We'll have to manipulate it," Skylar said, looking at Natasha.

"I bend time, not force-fields," she said, glaring at Skylar's ineptitude.

"Sounds like my department."

"You're going to go out there and bend a force-field the size of _Earth_?" Carter asked the new Red Ranger, the prospect sounding insane.

"Well what choice do we have?"

"Sky, wait," Nike ordered, "There could be serious repercussions to your morphing ability if you absorb that much energy; the cerebral morpher structure is already unstable and if you push it anymore, you'll not only lose your powers, but you could have serious brain damage…"

Sky looked away, then his intense blue gaze met her eyes, "I have to try…for the team."

The 12 rangers looked at him, even Natasha, who seemed to be on a trial basis with the team. Though they didn't thoroughly trust her, they'd made the diplomatic decision of allowing her to join the team, as they definitely couldn't afford to keep fighting her.

"Good luck, Sky," Bridge said, giving him a thumbs-up.

Sky returned the gesture, and without another word or motion, he was out the teleportation tube.

When he was ejected, he was already suited up in his ranger powers, approaching the field slowly.

"I'm about 100 feet from the field; I can already feel its power," Sky informed them over an intercom.

The rangers watched tensely, each of them peering through the large viewing window.

50 feet…20 feet…10 feet…

"AGH!" He cried out as his hands touched the enormous field.

"Sky, pull back!" Nike shouted through the intercom.

They all watched through the window, but Sky remained, his hands glued to the field.

Suddenly, a hole about the size of a small whale began to open. It grew larger and larger until it was about the size of the Titanic.

"Almost…there," he said through gritted teeth.

"Just a bit more, Sky, and I can get the ship through!" Nike told him.

He pulled all the energy he possibly could, but the field was overcoming him, he could feel it.

"I can't…hold it any longer," he gasped out.

"Just go!" Andrea shouted at Nike.

The thrusters fired up and the triangular ship attempted to nudge its way through. The front got through easily, but midway, where it started to widen, the ship was caught, and electricity began surging through the entire ship.

Quickly, the energy manifested itself, short-circuiting everything on the ship and frying half of their equipment. The rangers, too, were covered in red strings of electricity that traced their body and swarmed around them like glued-on snakes.

Screaming out in pain, Nike lost the steering controls of the Megaship as it writhed in the stasis hold that was surging about it. Miraculously, however, the ship fell through and plummeted through the atmosphere. It nosedived, beginning a crash-landing type of flight as it gathered more and more heat.

"We've got to…stabilize…the ship!" Andrea grunted, the electricity still coursing through her.

Leaving all thoughts aside, Hunter closed his eyes, thinking of the electricity that pained him so, and suddenly, all the electrical energy flowed from every ranger into him. When he opened his eyes, his irises glowed red for just a few moments, then they died down back to their naturally icy color. No one even bothered to thank him at the moment, but they all quickly re-manned their stations, trying to prepare for a crash landing.

"Stabilizers aren't responding, thrusters are jammed, and our fin-panels are shot; fire all exhaust ports!" Zhane shouted over the commotion.

Although Dustin had _no _idea what Zhane was talking about, he knew there had to be some form of air on the planet. So, with all his concentration and might, he brought up two mighty tornadoes, twins in shape and size and both glowing with silver. His irises rolled back, giving way to a silvery light emitting from his orb-like eyes as the cyclones spun closer. They spiraled towards the plummeting ship, catching it in their crosswinds and pulling it to an abrupt stop near a high cliff. It hovered there for a few moments before falling squarely to the ground.

Silence filled the ship.

"Are we dead?" Leo asked quietly, before passing out from exhaustion.

-XIII-

Sky looked around. He knew he was somewhere on some freaky jungle planet, but he had no idea where the others were or if they were even _alive_.

"Nike, Bridge, do you copy?" he asked over his helmet-implanted-communicator.

Nothing but static.

"Sky to Megaship, anyone?"

Still nothing.

"Damn!" he cursed, kicking an orange, powdery rock.

Unexpectedly, his suit began to phase in and out, red crackles of electricity crawling up and down his body. He looked at his hands as the suit completely faded away, leaving him in his civilian clothes and sweating profusely.

"No…" he muttered, still looking at his now gloveless hands.

"You there!" an angry voice called out.

Sky spun around to see a horde of Piranhatrons looking his direction, a larger one pointing towards him.

"Great…" he sighed.

"Seize him!" the Piranhatrons ordered.

The idiotic Piranhatrons charged him, unaware of his power.

Sky charged back, flipping over two of them and landing near three more. He quickly swept one of his feet with a trip, and then jumped up to roundhouse the other two. Swiftly, he pivoted, back-handing one and punching another in the gut. Upon instinct, he moved his arm in a circular motion, a purplish force-field conjuring up and blocking four more of the fish-based goons. Now only 20 more stood facing him. They, too, charged at him. Feeling some utter increase in power, Sky opened his arms, closely resembling the Vitruvius Man. A buildup of reddish energy manifested in his open palms, overflowing onto his arms. He then jutted his arms and hands out in front of him, his palms firing the mass of power into the flood of Piranhatrons, wiping out them _and _their general.

Sky observed his hands again, only in a different manner than before.

"That was…amazing," he said, smiling as he observed the dying red glow in his hands.

-XIII-

Dustin slowly opened his eyes, taking in the surroundings. The Megaship was trashed, but everyone seemed concerned about him, Hunter most of all. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine," he said, before anyone had the chance to say anything, "Where are we?"

Bridge piped up, "Infernus; we haven't been able to get anything up and running, and we can't get a lock on Sky either."

Dustin nodded, sitting up.

"Good afternoon, _rangers_," an English-accented voice came.

The rangers spun towards the doors of the bridge.

"Who are you?" Skylar demanded.

"_I _am the God of War, Ares. And you, rangers, are about to become extinct."

"Ready guys?" Hunter called out, setting up for a morph.

"Ready!"

But before they could finish the morph, little pinpricks that magically found their way to the back of the rangers' necks stabbed into them; instantly, their morph was deactivated. Wes, however, managed to dodge out of the way.

"What's wrong? Why can't we morph?" Hunter asked after trying the call.

"The neruo-inhibiters that I have just installed in you disable your elemental powers, as well as disabling your Eltarian powers," a female voice said to them.

The rangers turned around; a dark-skinned woman with exotic green eyes and reddish hair materialized.

"Ah, Artemis, nice of you join the party," Ares spat.

"I won't let you take all the glory," she said, her Jamaican accent ringing through.

While the sibling gods bickered, Wes was cautiously peeking around the chair, ready to spring into action. Nike nodded towards him, signaling for him to go. He flipped into the air, calling his morph as he did so and landing armored up in gold.

"I'm more than enough to take care of you two," he said, pulling out his Thunder Lance.

Ares smirked, "Foolish boy."

Without any hesitation whatsoever, the two males began to clash blades, Ares with his two swords and Wes with his Lance.

"Thunder Lance—Double Blade Mode!" Wes shouted during the break, his lance splitting into two separate blades.

"Let's help him!" Carter suggested, attempting to run forward.

Artemis easily intercepted him, her arms crossed and a look of superiority plastered on her smooth face.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked.

He looked at her, a tinge of fear in his eyes. When he opened his mouth to respond, she kneed him heavily in the stomach, the air cascading from his lungs. He tried several times to suck in air, but to no avail. He blinked a few times, but each blink seemed slower, until finally, his eyes closed. The others ran in to try and help, but Artemis easily baffled them, her incredible speed and legwork made them look like chumps, even Hunter and Dustin; ninja masters.

They groaned as they tried to stand again, watching Wes slowly lose just several meters away.

Wes barely blocked a head-swing, then narrowly dodged a stab. He bounced back with one of his own slashes, but fell short several inches.

"You're slowing, ranger!" Ares taunted.

Growling in rebellion, Wes swung again, only to have Ares easily dodge it with a cocky grin.

"Oh how I do _love _a good game," he teased as he kneed Wes, then slapped him roughly with the side of his sword, sending him into one of the stations.

Wes coughed as he stood up, "Yeah…well…game's over."

"You're right…it is," Ares said lethally, walking menacingly towards the Gold Fury Ranger.

"Sonic Slasher!" Wes cried out, swinging his blades in a cross-scissor-like way, two golden waves of energy slicing out at Ares.

But it was no use. Ares simply took his sword and reflected the blast back at Wes.

"Wes!" Nike choked out, trying to help him.

Artemis stomped on her cruelly, "No you don't."

In a lifeless-like state, Wes' body crumpled to the ground, his blades falling next to him.

"Get up," Ares demanded.

No response.

Ares frowned as he effortlessly picked up the 170 pound Wes by his neck. He took out his sword, starring savagely at Wes.

"One down, 12 to go," he snarled as he impaled the gold ranger with his gnarly sword.

Andrea looked away in horror, Nike bawled, the others gaped and winced as a crackle of sparkling gold energy poured out from Wes, accompanied by an agonizing scream. His powers exploded away from him as his blood began to stain the ancient sword belonging to the God of war. On his last few breaths, Wes was let off the saber and onto the ground in a merciless manner as Ares re-sheathed the mighty weapon.

He looked content with his work as Artemis stood by his side; but suddenly, a wave of light blasted them back and began to run all over their body like the electricity had done the rangers.

"What's…happening?" Ares growled out.

"I don't…know!" Artemis replied in the same constrained voice.

The two disappeared, Ares' voice echoing out "Another time."

Nike didn't pay attention to him, she began to crawl towards Wes' motionless body. She'd become close with him on the flight to Infernus and come to really admire the things he'd been through—the things he'd done. Now, it was her fault that he was lying there, probably dead. If she'd never forced him into the prophecy of Cronus, or never made him become a ranger, he'd still be laughing and living.


	14. Familial Revelations

**Chapter XIV—Familial Revelations**

The man stepped forward, placing his palm upon the fallen Wes' forehead. He muttered a few words and instantly Wes' body was outlined in silver before it disappeared.

"What did you do with him?" Carter snarled, jumping up towards the man.

With a look of complete and total seriousness, the mysterious man stretched his hand out, and the ice fist Carter had created instantly melted away. Carter's eyes bulged as he pulled his hand away. In the blink of an eye, several large rocks manipulated by Ryan were pelted at the man to no avail. Fear began to build in the rangers as he locked his aqua-marine eyes on Hunter.

"Who are you?" Hunter asked, stricken with a feeling of absolute loss.

Nike sniffed, standing and looking star-struck, her sister doing the same. In all their lives, they never expected it. Ever.

"It's…it's dad."

-XIV-

"WHO?" Zeus bellowed, his arm cracking the stone chair he sat in. He rose quickly, sweeping towards Ares.

"Z-zordon, father. I believe it was Zordon."

His thunderous eyes glared towards Artemis as he neared her; "And you saw this?"

She nodded to her father, not daring to look him in the eye.

He turned away but the immortal half-siblings knew they weren't spared.

"I—will deal—with you—_later_," he growled.

They quickly scurried out before their father underwent the incredibly painful process of tearing his spirit from his body. Within a few moments, it disappeared into a realm of distorted shadows and shining unknown beings.

"It is as I feared, my lord."

"He is on the move then?" came a blissful voice.

"It is…hard to say. Aphrodite, she was guarding him…he somehow escaped. He has found the Fury Chosen…"

"All of them?"

"Well…no. Ares managed to kill one—"

"The Golden one?"

"Y-yes my lord."

"Excellent. The prophecy goes as planned. What troubles you then?"

"It's Zordon, my lord; there is one still in the prison and one on the move; he's slowly regaining his power."

Silence came upon Zeus and he feared the worse. He knew how his master could be, he knew the terror he could induce—most greatly to the immortal.

"And his wife?"

"She is being held in a highly discreet location—"

"It's not discreet enough, my son."

"My lord, surely he will never find her ther—"

"I said it wasn't enough!" the entity bellowed.

"What do you propose, father?"

"Kill her."

-XIV-

"That's insane! There's no way in hell," Zhane reasoned, pacing the ship.

"Do you have a better idea?" Nike shot at him, her eyes narrowing.

"Well…no, but…"

"Then it's the only thing we _can_ do," Andrea interrupted. "Look, Wes was willing to give his life to protect us; we have to be willing to do the same."

Zordon carefully watched his younger daughter, and although no emotions played across his face, he felt them well up inside him. How he'd wished to see her grow up—all of his children for that matter. And now, their childhood was gone and they were faced with saving not just the universe—but every dimension. The life Zordon once swore to himself his children would never have to lead. How he was wrong…

"How are we even supposed to get there? I mean…I thought this place was for dead people?" Leo asked.

"I can get us there," Natasha said.

"If you can locate the realm, I can help get you in," Zordon spoke up.

"How can we even be sure this guy's for real? Last I knew, Zordon of Eltar was destroyed, and before that, he was a floating blue head."

Zordon looked at Skylar, "I'm hurt, Skylar. You don't remember me? You remembered to deliver my message but you don't recognize me?"

She stopped cold.

"My father was the one you saw in your vision?" Nike demanded.

"I-I had no idea."

"Of course not. I couldn't risk anyone knowing I was no longer imprisoned by that dimwitted Aphrodite," he explained.

"So who are they holding captive?" Bridge interrupted.

"His name is Delial, a master shape-shifter and demi-god of the Demons."

"Brother to Belial," Skylar added.

"You may also know him as the demon Diabolico," Zordon continued.

Carter and Ryan exchanged looks of incredulity; "Diabolico is alive? How did he escape the Shadow Realm?"

"He is a demi-god; surely you don't think he is bound by the same properties we are?"

Dustin rolled his eyes; "So then what are we going to do? I mean, seriously, our agenda is a little fucked here. We've got to find Sky, bring Wes back, find a new Gold Ranger, do whatever it is _you _want us to do, and STILL destroy the Chrominites. How exactly do we get all of that done?"

Zordon flinched somewhat, detecting his hostile nature was not normal for him.

"Dustin, is it?"

The silver ranger nodded.

"Well Dustin, seeing as how this has _got _to be the largest ranger team ever assembled, I propose we split up. Rangers 2 through 6 will come with me to rescue Delial and find Sky; rangers 7 through 13 will go to rescue Wes. Hopefully we can rally our secondary forces and return to Earth before the Chrominites catch on."

"Who are our secondary forces?" questioned Ryan.

"Why would we return to Earth?" asked Leo, now completely lost to the plan.

Zordon walked over to the main panel, bringing up a screen of Earth.

"I have reason to believe the Chrominites have several fortresses stationed throughout the world. You see, there are four groups of Chrominites; the Olympians, the Supreme, the Infernal, and the Abysmal. We are obviously in a war with the Olympians, but the Infernal fortress, located in the South American Rainforest, is where they're holding important civilians captive. The Supreme, however, have a fortress here, in Antarctica. I believe this is where they're holding all the other rangers captive."

-XIV-

"Are you sure leaving Earth is a good idea?" she asked again.

The legendary man continued to take long paces towards the hangar.

"Mr. Oliver?"

"Taylor, we haven't got a choice. I can…I can feel it. Something big is about to happen on Infernus…and I know I need to be there."

"We're with you, Tommy," Katherine said, walking up next to him.

"What's that sound?" Jason asked, squinting to get a better view of the jeep nearing them.

"I don't believe it…" Katherine sighed.

"Alright…he showed," Tommy enthused, holding his hand over his eyes to see the newcomer.

The jeep came to a halt as its driver got out, pulling his shades off, "You weren't gonna leave without me were you?"

"…Why do I feel like I know this guy?" Jason asked to no one in particular.

"I'm only the youngest ranger to exist," he answer arrogantly, "Oh don't tell me you don't remember? I kicked your ass in Miranthias."

Jason suddenly remembered and tried to suppress his laugh. Tried.

"Justin?"

"Don't sound so serious," he said grumpily.

Katherine, for one, was thoroughly excited as she squeezed the air out of him.

"Justin's volunteered to come with us to fuel the ship."

"How's he going to fuel the ship?" Jason asked his long time partner curiously.

"With this baby here," the former turbo ranger answered, patting his jeep happily.

It was then that it clicked for Jason: "Stormblaster?"

"In the beeping steel," Justin bragged.

"Well, then we'd better get inside," Katherine urged.

"How did all these people avoid capture again?" Taylor inquired finally.

"Simple. The Chrominites only knew general areas to look. You, for example, Taylor, weren't at the airbase today, nor were you on Animaria. Luckily, you were visiting your grandmother in the mountains; whereas Tommy and Jason were on a plane back from New York. I was in Australia with my parents for their anniversary," Katherine stopped and motioned towards Justin.

"They assumed I would be at home, school, work, or at the juice bar. In actuality, I was…at the bank," he said quietly.

Taylor nodded. Suddenly, the Chrominites didn't seem so smart or invincible.

"Excuse me?" a rough voice came.

The rangers turned around, seeing several FBI agents coming towards them.

"May I ask why you are in a _clearly _restricted area. Under section 7-X of the newly instated Federal Bureau of Investigations Mandate and a clear warrant signed by the Universal Chancellor himself, it is our duty to now control any and all airspace capable of housing any dangerous crafts," one recited.

Tommy looked at him, his neck twitching slightly and rather uncharacteristically. Katherine noticed but dismissed it as she eyed the guards warily.

"There must be some sort of misunderstanding. Under the United Alliance of Heroes Code of Legality, I, Thomas Oliver, possess an instrument of the Morphing Grid. I therefore have access to a form of immediate transportation in order to investigate claims that are, and pertain to, matters of imminent destruction of one or more planets."

The guards chuckled. "Come on son. You're no power ranger."

They moved to restrain him but Tommy had no intention of staying on earth. He made quick work of them, making them unconscious in an almost blurry state.

"Tommy! Was that really necessary?" Katherine asked, appalled. Even Jason was taken aback.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, guys; we need to get to Infernus…he needs us," Tommy explained.

"Who is _he_?" Taylor asked skeptically.

"Z-Zordon," Tommy stuttered, boarding their old looking vessel.

"What is this thing?" Katherine questioned, observing the old dust-covered walls.

"It's an old Eltarian craft…the same one Zordon and Alpha used to get here."

Tommy spared them a glance; "Alright…park Stormblaster in the docking bay and I'll set up the energy flux."

Justin hesitated. Tommy seemed…different. After he'd seen him subdue those guards so viciously, he felt a little uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he got into his trusty jeep and followed Tommy's directions before returning to the bridge.

"So, why were you guys in New York?" Justin asked.

Neither Jason nor Tommy replied; "Guys?"

"Oh, just vacation," Jason answered distractedly as he fiddled with controls.

Justin shrugged and sat with Katherine. He had a feeling Jason and Tommy were going to exclude them from practically everything as they ran the operation. And strangely, he didn't really mind.

-XIV-

"So…the entrance to Hades' realm is here," Natasha began, bringing up a visual of the planet.

"There're so many things I want to ask you," Hunter said quietly to the father he'd never known, completely ignoring Natasha.

Zordon looked over into the eyes that were so much like his own; everything about Hunter was strikingly like himself, save the few features he'd received from his mother.

"I know," he replied, "Come with me."

Hunter eyed him strangely but followed him off the bridge, through the corridors, down the stairs, and into a small room.

"What is this place?"

"This is an Eltarian meditation room, designed specifically for the fine tuning of the Eltarian psychic ability."

"But I don't—"

"Have psychic powers? Hunter…" Zordon hesitated, but continued, "My son; you have powers far beyond that of any other Eltarian…you just have to know how to use them."

Hunter looked towards his almost-reflection in a form of strange clarity. Somehow, he felt…enlightened.

"Come on…I'll teach you," Zordon instructed, sealing the door.

"Why'd they leave?" Nike asked, turning away from Natasha's briefing.

"I think Dad is going to awaken Hunter's dormant powers…maybe we'll have a chance to win this thing after all?" Andrea answered.

"So, when do we head out?" Leo wondered.

"Once my brother and my dad come out, we can leave," Nike said.

"It is _so _weird to hear that," Dustin laughed.

The sisters cocked their eyebrows, sparing each other looks, but ignoring the comment altogether.

"In the mean time, we should get prepared for our trips. I'm not sure how to revert the effects of Artemis' neural inhibitors."

"Can't you and Andrea just make the morphers into regular wrist mounted morphers?" Dustin asked.

"Pft, are you insane? Didn't you see how easy it was to steal the jewel from Natasha?" Andrea laughed.

"Wait a minute…" Nike started, "He may be on to something. What if we split the stones in half? Making one wrist mounted and one cerebral?"

Andrea pondered the thought, "We'd need help…and time."

"Why don't you guys stay here and we'll go out to find Sky?" Zhane piped up, "That way, you can fix Sky's too."

"Good idea; but we'll need to revise the teams. Ryan, Leo, Carter, Bridge, and Zhane; you guys go find Sky. Dustin, you, Natasha, Skylar, and Hunter will go to the underworld. My dad will need to stay and help with the morphers. Alright everyone, I need your stones. Now…this is a very dangerous process, so don't move while I do it, okay?"

The others looked hesitant, but complied. Nike walked over to Dustin first, holding her palm out until she had his forehead in it. She concentrated, as did Dustin, until a silvery glow emitted from the room. Seconds later, a stone the size of an acorn was in her hand, silver in color with a triangle on it.

"Thanks," she said as she took the handheld stones from Natasha and Skylar.

The whole process took her about a minute-and-a-half before she held a collection of assorted stones, all about the same in size.

"Dad already took Wes', so I think he has it," Andrea informed them.

"Good luck, guys," Nike said.

"We're on it," Ryan affirmed as he and the other four began to leave.

"Wait," Andrea stopped them, "Don't forget; we don't have our morphing powers right now; only our elemental powers, so you need to be careful. If you get into trouble, shoot something up into the air; make it loud, AND noticeable, got it?"

"Gotcha," Zhane said, leaving with the others.

"Let's just hope this works," Nike sighed.


	15. To Hell and Back, Part I

_**Chapter XV—To Hell and Back, Part I**_

Natasha Simmons, the demigoddess child of Zeus and Aisha, pushed several reddish plants from her face as she made her way through the fiercely hot jungle.

"How do you know how to find this place?" the new Pink Fury ranger, Skylar, questioned, also pushing plants out of her path.

"On every planet, in every realm, there is a gateway to hell; you just have to know how to find it. Fortunately for us…I happen to be Hades' favorite person."

Dustin made a coughing noise that signaled doubt, but she continued on. A flash of brown caused her to jump back with amazing speed.

"Piranhatrons."

Natasha looked back at Skylar; "How do you know what those things are?"

"A History of Rangering; basic class back at the academy."

Hunter exchanged looks with Dustin and Natasha before they continued upon their way.

"Stop."

The remaining three rangers halted as she commanded. There was nothing there.

"How do you know this is it?" Dustin asked skeptically.

She didn't answer. She was drawing something in the air, and now that Dustin looked at it closely, a golden colored glow began to appear, forming an upside down cross of sorts.

"Is that…a crucifix?" Hunter asked, his shock obvious.

"It's the _original _crucifix. The first inhabitant of Earth was an Eltarian traitor who did dirty work for the Chrominites; when he was found out, he was banished to Earth, where he was later joined by an unknown female. There, they mated and began to create what has devolved to the Homo sapiens. His crude knowledge of the Chrominites was distorted through the years and was then adapted to be the sigil of Christianity," Natasha explained as the cross grew brighter and brighter every second.

"That seems a little farfetched to me," Skylar interjected, looking doubtful. "Are you trying to say Adam and Eve were banished Eltarians?"

"Who knows? This story is a myth of why the Eltarians now have the Cronus Stone and why the Chrominites were locked from this dimension. I don't want to interfere with your faith," Natasha shrugged as she watched the cross begin to split the very fabric of their reality. Beyond it, a place covered in black and gold was barely visible.

"_That's _hell?"

Natasha smirked at Hunter; "It's Hades' realm; you can call it hell if you'd like."

The cross had now grown to the size of a grown man, a portal large enough for all the rangers to walk through.

"Do not let _anything _here kiss you, understand?"

Skylar raised an eyebrow; "Why would I want _dead people _to kiss me?"

Natasha didn't answer as she started off down a metallic gold path that led to a building so immense it could easily have been the largest mountain range ever to exist.

"What _is _that?"

"That…is Hades' palace," she replied to her awestricken black ranger.

"And _this _is your new home."

-XV-

"_Raptor Inferno!_"

A jet of whitish blue fire shot from the palms of Zhane's outstretched hands, scorching the Piranhatrons to dust.

"_Seismic Cannon_!" cried Ryan, who hurled at least a dozen glowing brown orbs of hardened energy.

Without the slightest hint of impediment, the orbs tore through the tin Quantrons like razors.

"This isn't going to work; we need to call the others," Bridge admitted, then turned back to the Battlings that were swarming him: "_Solar Flare_!"

"We can't; we've _got _to give Andrea and Nike enough time to get our morphers working," Leo answered, as he too called on a special move: "_Leviathan Geyser_!"

A high-pressured beam of focused water ripped through the dying Putrids and died down once Leo returned his pointed fingers to a normal position.

"Leo's right – _Icicle Shower_! – if they don't finish the morphers, we won't be able to do _anything_."

Ryan nodded towards Carter as the Grey Ranger's icicles destroyed the remaining Stingwingers, and then he dusted himself off.

"There'll be more."

"We should find Sky as soon as possible then," the Yellow Ranger, Bridge, suggested, also dusting off.

Without another word, they began to continue on their trek with no sign of life other than henchmen showing up.

"I'm beginning to think there's no way we'll find him; I mean, this is an entire _planet_," Zhane said, "He could be _anywhere_."

Bridge shook his head, "Don't think like that; we'll find him."

"ARGH!"

The rangers' heads snapped up in the direction of the scream as several red lights flew off into the sky. A few Cogs were seen flying through the air, their bodies mangled and disassembled.

"Sooner than we thought, huh?"

Bridge didn't laugh at Ryan's joke as he began to sprint in the direction of his commander's cry. He wouldn't admit to the others, but he'd been genuinely worried about Sky. The others' powers weren't like Sky's. Sky had the power to be in touch with every living thing around him…a Power Bridge knew only _too _well. He'd tried to help Sky adapt to the powers, but because of their alien nature and extreme sophistication to his own powers, Bridge had never succeeded very much with that task. He'd known it was a bad idea for Sky to try and manipulate a force field the size of a planet, but Sky wasn't thinking about all the excess power and emotions he'd be receiving from all the life forms on the planet. Sky never thought of the consequences, as long as his mission was completed – within regulations of course. The only trouble with being a Fury Ranger was there _were _no regulations.

"Bridge, wait!"

He could hear the others warning him, but he didn't care. He was going to find Sky and get him back to the ship and get his stone removed. Maybe it would help his –

His thoughts stopped suddenly as he was blasted backward by a searing red blast. He hurtled through the air into a massive tree where he slumped down, trying to catch his breath. When his vision resumed, the sight before him was horrible. Sky was _massacring _the henchmen; he wasn't disabling them, or knocking them out of the way, he was _murdering _them – slamming his glowing red fist through their facemasks, shooting holes through their stomachs, using his newly found powers of eye lasers to blind them…it couldn't be the same Sky!

"Oh, my God…" he heard the others gasp.

It was truly horrifying. Sky's arms and his clothes were blotched with different colors of blood –green, purple, bright orange, neon green…and he was still going at it.

"Sky, you have to stop!" Ryan shouted at the monstrous ranger.

He fixed him with a lethal glare before beams of red energy shot out of his eyes at Ryan, knocking him backwards into Leo.

"Get away!" he strained; his voice sounded…torn.

"Sky…we can _help you_," Carter said slowly, approaching the enraged red ranger haphazardly.

The villains looked relieved for a break and the remainders made a run for it; no doubt to tell the others. Leo and Zhane made quick work of them before they got away.

Sky growled lowly as he took strained breaths. His voice cracked with each inhalation and he slightly resembled a rabid animal.

"What's wrong with him?"

Bridge ached as he stood, shaking his head; "It must be the stones interfering with his cerebral structure. The Cronos Stone feeds off the emotions of its user, and because they're implanted in our brain, I can only assume his has accidentally tapped into the Limbic System of his brain; it's basically made him primal…"

"Then how do we get him back to the ship without him killing us?"

"You let _me _do the killing."

-XV-

"_Uncle_!" Natasha gushed, running to hug him.

Dustin, Hunter, and Skylar's postures all slackened somewhat as she found familiarity in Hades. However, shock was just around the corner. A loud gasping noise could be heard from Natasha, and then she slowly fell to the ground, grasping at her stomach. Hades stared down at her indifferently.

"You will die. With the mortals."

"_Griffin Gale_!" Dustin screamed without thinking.

Hades was immediately forced backwards by an invisible force that slashed at him like a million sabers, making his feet drag through the concrete street causing trenches. He cracked his neck as his wounds healed rapidly – the cuts on his face and visible skin closing instantly.

"You have grown powerful; the stones truly _do _reside in you."

Hunter gave Dustin a nervous look as Skylar stepped up; "You're damn right they do. So why don't you drop the act and take us inside; aren't you supposed to be one of the good bad guys?"

Natasha was still gasping in front of the black clad God of Death; she finally managed to suck in some air and choked out; "It's not – he's not – changed him…"

Skylar looked down at Natasha, her confident demeanor dissolving. They were about to face off with the God of Death.

"Then it looks like we'll need to fight him," Dustin said, but not daring to shift to a fighting position.

Hades, however, did slide into an offensive position. In the blink of an eye, the choking and spluttering Natasha had reappeared next to Dustin, Hunter, and Skylar; her breathing returned to normal.

"_Quanta Blitz!_"

"_Electro Strike!_"

"_Fierce Whirlwind_!

"_Eraser Striker!"_

Natasha, Hunter, Dustin, and Skylar projected their blasts respectively, only to have Hades regenerate easily afterwards.

"This is going to be tough," Natasha warned them, "Even with my Demigoddess powers, I'm no match for him."

"Together we are," Hunter pepped.

"Then let's get him hard and fast," Skylar agreed.

Dustin nodded. They hesitated, waiting for an opening. Once Hades began to crouch into a fighting position again, they charged at something similar to warp speed; it was then Hades realized Dustin was the power of wind, Hunter of Lightning, his niece of time, and this new girl seemed to be something like dimensional; she must've been the one Zeus was outraged with. Either way, the rangers were much faster than him – he'd need to use his brute strength.

He quickly jutted his leg out and stopped one of the blurs – the pink one. Skylar tumbled backward. Her injury was distraction enough for him to pick Natasha off next with a fist to the jaw and a spinning backhand to the temple. Dustin and Hunter, the current most experienced fighters, delivered disappearing roundhouses –synced perfectly – then performed a double sweep. Hades crashed to the ground but was warped right back upwards; he grabbed their heads and slammed them together painfully before he shot them backwards, the dark energy covering them like mist.

The rangers recollected, but Dustin was knocked down brutally by a well executed clothesline; Skylar and Hunter were crucially slammed together several times before being knocked backwards by devastating kicks and punches. Natasha was left facing him, now pulling out her Demigoddess powers.

It was still futile. After a clash of blasts, Hades domineered, standing before their crippling forms. He held out a limp hand, and then began to squeeze the air it looked like, as if he were choking it. It was almost as if he thought he was Darth Vader.

"What's this guy doing? You think you're some kinda Sith or something?" Hunter laughed and looked to Dustin, expecting the same. Yet Dustin was being slightly levitated, his hands around his throat.

"NO!"

Dustin's bulging eyes looked to Hunter, then to Natasha and Skylar as he pleaded for help.

Skylar and Natasha charged Hades while Hunter gathered an energy blast. The two females were on the other side of the street in about 30 seconds, but Dustin had been released.

"_Pulsar Eradicator!" _Hunter growled, an enormous particle wave bursting from his single open palm.

The particles began to join and formed an arrow-shaped bolt of lightning that shredded Hades' body, causing a large explosion.

"You okay?" Hunter asked his fallen comrade gently.

Dustin nodded as he massaged his throat, "T-thanks."

"That…was _impressive_. It was…_Eltarian_."

Hunter's head snapped up and his eyes locked with the cold ice chips that were Hades' irises.

"How…"

"I'm a God, kid. And you…_you _are the Heir of Eltar, aren't you?"

"What if I am?"

"Well…this changes everything. I kill you and…well…then that's just no fun, is it?"

Hunter frowned, "I thought you liked Natasha?"

"Who says this is about her?"

Natasha began to rise behind Hades as Hunter stalled for more time.

"I'm not saying it is…but let's be honest; I haven't had much lucid interaction with Chrominites, now have I?"

Hades chuckled as he advanced upon Hunter slowly; "That's true; then again, you haven't had much interaction with anything _but _humans, have you, Earthling?"

That was all the time Natasha needed, and in a bright burst of orange, she spiraled like a corkscrew, driving through Hades' body much like the lightning arrow Hunter had sent through him.

He rematerialized within seconds, his body pulling itself together quite graphically, and he glared at them with the fierceness of a thousand men.

"I'm done toying," he growled.

But then he was gone, as was Dustin.

"Dustin!"

Hunter looked around frantically for the demorphed silver ranger, but to no avail. A slight groan could be heard and Hunter spun around, facing Dustin, held up effortlessly by Hades.

"Let him go."

"You seem to have a soft spot for the boy," Hades murmured, curiously observing Dustin, "and that will only strengthen your weakness."

Then, as if he had no emotions whatsoever, he rammed a dark black blade through Dustin's stomach, the only color now etching the blade being the crimson stains Dustin's body had left on it.

An agonizing cry escaped the silver ranger's mouth, a flash of silver and bursts of electricity poured out through any crevices the boy possessed as the power he had left his body.

"NO!" was all Hunter could hear himself screaming. He could feel himself fly forward, punching Hades with all the might he possessed.

Natasha and Skylar were up again, taking advantage of Hades' surprise, while Hunter tended to Dustin.

"I'm sorry, Dustin, I'm sorry for all the lies and the hurt I caused you…just…don't leave now. Get up! You've got to fight! _Please_!"

Dustin's faint form didn't speak at first. His eyes then moved to Hunter, and he coughed a bit as the pain racked his body; "It's all good, dude."

A light enveloped his body and it faded away into an enormous pillar of Hades' palace, taking Dustin with it.

Natasha and Skylar regrouped with Hunter quickly after Hades had been knocked from sight.

"Hunter, listen to me; I've got to go inside Hades' palace; can you and Skylar hold him off?"

Hunter's darkened eyes darted to her as he began to stand from the place Dustin had been laying.

"Yeah…I can handle him."

Natasha hesitated a moment before she faded out in a static manner, using her time power to move faster than the other two.

"Ready for this?" Skylar questioned, looking to her unofficial leader.

"You'd better hope so," came Hades' voice.

-XV-

Athena, the goddess of Wisdom and Defensive Combat, stood over the now defeated forms of five rangers; the red one had put up quite a battle in his enraged, primal-like state.

"And now…your stones," she said in her calm, collected voice.

As she reached out for Sky, red lasers from his eyes scorched her hand.

"Get her Sky!" Bridge cheered on as he jumped up and grabbed her arms behind her back.

Sky let loose with a flurry of punches, each one landing with a glowing red fist and leaving a singe mark.

She screamed viciously as she broke out of the hold, her robe falling off. It revealed a pink armor etched with gold plating and a black defensive mail under the outer layers of armor. It was thin and form fitting, probably forged by Hephaestus himself.

"You…hurt my…friends…you…tried to kill me…and now…you… DIE!"

And for a split second, the real Sky took over his body again; the second was all he needed to cry out:

"Nature's Fury, Release From in Me!"

His suit revolved onto him in a blast of red and he was ready to fight.

But he was no match for Athena and her advanced defensive skills. In a matter of minutes, Sky lay on the ground, his ranger suit gone.

"We should…give our power to him," Carter panted.

Ryan looked at him curiously; "What do you mean?"

Carter grabbed a hold of Sky's arm, a grayish energy flowing from Carter's hand into Sky's hand.

Ryan shrugged and followed suit, and was succeeded by Zhane and Bridge. Athena watched them, bemused. Suddenly, however, the four donating rangers were sent reeling backwards by an unseen force. Sky was instantly floating a few inches above the ground, an unmistakable red aura surrounding him.

"Unleash—Primal Fury!"

He was briefly teleported to a world surrounded in beams of red energy ricocheting off unseen barriers. Several struck him in different places, etching an armor onto him that he recognized as his regular fury armor. But then, something else happened; he acquired shoulder pads that tilted up a bit by roughly 20 degrees; another pair jutted out from the now angular pads. A chest plate mimicking pectorals appeared, bearing the ancient marking of Force. On his right arm, a spiraling band appeared, beginning at his elbow and leading into a claw attached over his hand. Five sharp, black talons spurted from the tips of the claw over his hand, and then a back fin extended from the top of the claw. A guard over each thigh then clasped on over his slightly baggy pants, and attached themselves to glowing black kneepads. A cup-like guard appeared on his pants, attached to his belt, and on his left arm, two bands spaced around his bicep and triceps latched on. Finally, his helmet, completely remodeled, began to form. The same tiger's roar could be heard, however, this time, a mask with three arrow-shaped slits covered Sky's mouth and nose. Two fins on each side of the helmet spiked out, and a visor complete with a vivid red scanner covered his eyes.

"PRIMAL FORCE ENERGY RANGER!"


	16. To Hell and Back, Part II

_**Chapter XVI—To Hell and Back, Part II**_

Andrea Zeta, Green Fury Ranger, wiped her brow with the back of her wrist as she worked tirelessly on the band of metallic alloys in front of her. Across from her, she caught a glimpse of blond as he older sister, Nike, set up energy readout panels and recalibration pods.

"The rangers are in trouble," their father Zordon suddenly spoke up.

"What? But…how do you know?" Nike asked, leaving her work to walk over to him.

"Well, aside from the smoke rising from the canopy, I can feel the presence of a Chrominite nearby."

"Got it!" Andrea shouted.

"You're done?"

"Yeah sis, check it out! The band is made of a Trixyrium Containment Field, which is powerful enough to resist any form of hacking and magnetized enough to stabilize the polarity and energy readings of each stone. Not to mention, it helps conduct energy from the cerebral location throughout the body, keeping the stones from overloading or overpowering us."

Zordon blinked at his youngest daughter's genius, despite her recent graduation from high school. How he hated himself for not being present for more of her life.

"Well, I'm finished with the pods, the energy readouts are just being a little weird," Nike responded slowly.

"Allow me to fix that," Zordon said, quickly moving to the tray where the stones sat.

He closed his eyes and held his hands over them as he poured his own glowing green energy into each stone. His eyes flickered open as the Cronus Stone Shards glowed brighter and brighter till they maxed out in shine. When he withdrew his hands, the stones resonated with the energy of the legendary Zordon and their own mythical powers.

"These should help much more than before," Zordon said as he backed away, his breathing heavy and his energy depleted.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Nike asked as she helped him into a seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired. My powers haven't completely returned to me. Get those stones to the rangers, though, they're going to need your help."

"I'll take the stones to Hunter and the others, you see if you can pick up Sky and his group," said Nike as she divided the stones between her and her redhead sister.

"What about Sky?" Andrea asked.

"Sky is fine," Zordon replied, rubbing his forehead. "He has ascended to the battleizer plane of power in an inappropriate fashion; however, once he has relieved some of the energy from his shard, he will return to normal. Then you must take his stone and modify it like the others."

Andrea nodded slowly. "That's a good thing, though, right? I mean, he can beat the Chrominite with a battleizer, right?"

"Not like that."

—XVI—

Athena dodged another swipe from Sky's enormous saber as she tried to catch her breath. His speed, despite the extra armor around his suit, was incredible. Out of the shield portion of his saber, rays of energy came forth, forcing her into a large tree.

"Go, Sky!" Bridge cheered on.

"These new powers are incredible. Is that a battleizer?" Leo asked, looking to the others.

"If I ever saw one," Carter responded slowly as he leaned on Ryan's shoulder.

"He's losing power, though," Zhane said darkly. "There's no way he can keep up a battleizer for much longer, and when he slips up, that Chrominite will take him out like they did Wes."

"Guys, get out of here!" Sky roared as he backhanded Athena into a rock. The impact shattered the boulder instantly as she grunted in pain.

"What about you?" Bridge asked as Sky back flipped over one of Athena's deadly looking blasts.

"I'm fine! Go!"

"We should do what he says," Leo said. "There's nothing we can do anyway. We don't have our powers."

Athena high jumped toward Sky, over his blade, and slashed down his back with her dirk. He cried out in pain as he crumbled to the ground.

"No one is going _anywhere_," Athena growled, throwing a bundle of explosive daggers at the five powerless rangers. Instantly, Zhane brought up a wall of fire that disintegrated her attack, but he staggered slightly afterward.

"We don't have enough power without our stones," Leo worried as he helped Zhane upright.

"Say goodbye, Red Ranger. And say hello to the gold ranger when you see him," Athena said, preparing her dirk for the final strike.

She stabbed downward savagely before a barrage of green energy threw her off balance, causing her to cover herself angrily. "What the…?"

"You can tell Wes yourself when you see him soon enough," the Green Astral Ranger replied hotly as she landed, energy radiating off her as her aura died down.

"What?"

"Andrea!" Leo enthused.

"Take these!" she said quickly, tossing Leo the case with the jewels.

He quickly flipped it open and strapped on his bracelet, the others following suit.

"Let's ranger up," Ryan said, the others standing behind him.

Just like their previous morphs, each ranger planted both feet to the sides so they were parallel to their shoulders. The braces on the backs of their arms glowed while their elemental sigils burned brightly on the backs of the hands. Each one extended fingers appropriate to their respective numbers, then brought their hands up in front of their faces.

"Nature's Fury, Release From in Me!" they chorused, twisting their arms in a spiral before them, before crossing their left bracelet hand over their bare right wrist in an X.

Each ranger felt their respective elements embrace them familiarly as their power levels replenished fully.

In bursts of brown, stones orbiting him like a ring, Ryan called out "Two, Brown Terrestrial Fury Ranger!"

Geysers erupted underneath Leo, lifting him into the air effortlessly as he transformed into the White Fury Ranger. He posed and shouted "Three, White Tidal Fury Ranger!"

Carter spun around, the blizzard surrounding him shooting about like a tornado as he stomped down and posed. "Four, Grey Polar Fury Ranger!"

"Five, Yellow Solar Fury Ranger!" announced Bridge in his yellow and red suit, solar flares blossoming around him like flammable petals.

Lastly, Zhane called forth the powers of fire, blazes of bright blue burning through the ground around him until he found himself in a firestorm. "Six, Blue Inferno Fury Ranger!"

The five rangers posed instantly, stepping forward to back up Sky and Andrea.

"This is not the fight I had in mind," Athena muttered to herself as she stood up.

Andrea helped lift Sky up, admiring his new armor. "What is this?"

"Feels like a battleizer," he panted. "Can't…keep it on much longer."

Andrea frowned beneath her mouthpiece before she hobbled him over to the other rangers.

"Distract her for as long as you can, I'll contact you when I have his Morpher fixed."

"Andrea, something's wrong; I can't mentally communicate anymore," Carter noted.

"I know. Removing portions of the stone and putting them in the bracelets lost their telepathic properties…similar to what happened to me, Nike, and Hunter when Bridge fixed our Morphers."

"So we use the bracelets?" asked Bridge.

"Right, they're located under your gloves on your left wrists; be careful."

"No one is leaving this little fiesta until I say so!" Athena growled, blasting at Andrea, who quickly dodged.

"Alright, Athena. Party time?" Andrea taunted, letting the others hold on to Sky.

—XVI—

Hunter drop kicked Hades' fallen form into a solid gold pillar, the structure crumbling at the force of impact. The God of the Dead was already on his feet and flying rapidly at the unmorphed black fury ranger, his fists clenched and his teeth bared in anger.

Hunter dodged quickly and easily, his normal vision blinded by rage yet enhanced by natural abilities he never knew he had. Coupled with his perfected Ninja technique, the warrior genes of the Eltarian Race bolstered his skill and power infinitely, making him feel impervious to the Chrominite warrior he was seamlessly trumping.

He brought his leg around in a whirlwind kick that snapped Hade's spine with a thunderous boom; but before the force could send him flying, Hunter grabbed his ankle and slammed him face first into the granite ground, destroying part of the pathway.

He was glad Skylar had gone with Natasha after he ordered her to, because without her around, he could let the anger and power overtake his body and judgment. The violent nature he expressed currently scared the old Hunter, but the new Hunter longed to avenge Dustin and show Hades why Eltarians were so widely respected and feared.

Natasha, meanwhile, was bobbing and weaving the undead ghouls of Hades' lackluster army. They were easy enough to blast away, but their large number and inability to feel pain was growing old and tiresome. Even Skylar with her new powers was beginning to lose endurance.

"We don't have much farther to go!" Natasha shouted above the ruckus. She backhanded a feisty ghoul, then ran down more of the spiral staircase, pausing to blast back soldiers.

Simultaneously, the two tapped into their powers and activated their super speed, reaching the lower base in little time.

"Skylar, you check the right side, I'll check the left. Dustin will be wearing red, because he's a newly dead; Wes will be in white orange because he's been here for about an hour."

"Gotcha," Skylar replied breathlessly, utilizing her super speed once again.

Natasha, again, ran off at full speed, seeing no signs of Dustin or Wes. Then she saw bodies flying. "That's gotta be one of them," she said half to herself.

In the midst of a large crowd of ghouls was a semi-transparent Dustin, his life essence slowly draining from his body. Nonetheless, it didn't stop him from fighting for his life against the mob of demons trying to take him down.

"Dustin!" she called out, rushing to his aid as she pelted several demons with her orange energy blasts. "Follow me!"

The fading silver ranger jumped above the group and made his best to run, but his legs began to fade. Suddenly, rubble was flying everywhere as Hades came bursting through what used to be the cavern's ceiling. A bolt of lightning signified the arrival of Eltarian Powered Hunter, a dark aura dancing like electrical wisps of air.

"Stay away from him!" Hunter growled, a thunderbolt flying from his palm at Hades, who flew into a marble statue. "Natasha, get him out of here!"

"I can't, he's fading!"

Hunter elbowed Hades' face, his nose cracking disgustingly as the Heir of Eltar spun and kicked him back into the statue, this time destroying its legs.

Hunter rushed to Dustin. "We don't have a lot of time."

The emotion and break in violence caused his previously purely blue-green eyes to allow his pupils to return and the natural light blue to take over. "Dustin, I'm going to try something…and it's not going to feel good. Just…please trust me and stay with me."

Clenching his fist, Hunter allowed his Eltarian powers to overtake him again, his eyes glowing aquamarine once more and his pupils disappearing. He thrust his hand into the transparent Dustin's chest, electricity pouring out into the silver ranger's heart and spreading throughout his body.

"Quick, while I'm doing this, grab my stone and Dustin's, then get Wes rejuvenated by donating some of your energy to him," Hunter instructed.

"I don't know where he is," Natasha confessed.

"Right here!" Skylar screamed, dodging a large fiery blast from several cerebrus, flanked by ghouls. Next to her was a nearly invisible Wes, a faint golden outline around him.

"All accounted for?" asked Nike in full ranger suit, her visor shooting open so she could make eye contact.

"Dustin was killed, but Hunter's trying his best to give him some energy to stall the life extracting process. Wes should be fine when he gets some energy, but Dustin, on the other hand, didn't have a stone when he died," Natasha explained.

"That's way too dangerous, bro," Nike said quietly.

"I have to try!" Hunter cried out, his voice cracking slightly as his irises flickered in and out of existence.

"Now, now, princey-poo; don't get all sappy on me!" Hades growled, flipping upward and firing a ball of energy at him.

Instantly, Nike thrust out a forcefield, intercepting the attack impeccably. "I can't hold this forever!"

Slowly, Dustin's voice could be heard as he regained his lungs and corporeal solidity. Finally, his entirety was restored as a full scream filled the room. Hunter quickly pulled his hand out before the rest of Dustin's body resealed and regenerated.

"His stone!" Hunter shouted to Nike over the sound of energy-on-energy as she continued to block.

"In the case!" Skylar shouted as she helped regenerate Wes by allowing him to absorb some of her own energy.

Hunter quickly grabbed the case, flipped it open, and slapped the silver encrusted bracelet on to Dustin's wrist. The gem in the middle of it began to shine as it sent energy down the wiry markings indented in the brace. Finally, Dustin inhaled deeply like he was gasping for his first breath in ages, before his eyes lit up with silver. They slowly returned to normal as he sat up, staring at Hunter's worry-filled eyes.

"You…you saved me," Dustin breathed.

"Of course I did, dude," Hunter responded, his voice wavering. "I…I wouldn't let you die on me."

"But you…you saved my _life_," Dustin stuttered again.

Hunter nodded, "Anything for you, dude."

"Touching," Hades coughed, the blast having resulted in a minor shockwave against Nike's forcefield.

"How does this touch you?" Dustin snapped, leaping to his feet.

He lined up with Hunter, Natasha, and Skylar, rage burning bright behind their eyes as they chorused together: "Nature's Fury, Release From in Me!"

With a cry ringing with anger and a hurricane whirling behind him with the force of ancient Cronus power, the silver suited Dustin shouted, "Seven, Silver Cyclone Fury Ranger!"

Meanwhile, Hunter held his hand in the air and allowed the lightning in the sky above him to strike his fist and wrap around his arm until he was covered with black electrical pulses. His body was covered in black Elespheri before crimson markings separated the white on his neck and the black of his suit. As per the other rangers, Fury Stripes appeared on his right shoulder, a circle with the Lightning Rune on his left shoulder, and a circle with the Lightning Symbol on his left breast. His belt clicked into place with a black orb in the center, the crimson-outlined rune encrusted in the center. Silver boots and shin guards clasped onto his feet beneath the white pants that were tripped with black, and matching gauntlets outlined in black and crimson instantly flashed onto his forearms. Finally, his helmet began to form from a surge of electrical energy that covered his face. A red, lethal horn swished up from front of his visor while the teeth of wyvern were etched out by the overhangs of helmet. Two pieces resembling dragon wings spread from the edges of the sides of his visor, back past his helmet with a talon-like object that stretched into the peripheral areas of his visor. Panels behind his helmet stretched back like scales of the top of his helmet, and two more forward facing horns shot forth, which laid the sets for the blue eyes of the wyvern. Finally, his bright blue visor set in as the silver mouth guard slipped up past his mouth, completing Hunter's Hero Ranger Form.

"Nine, Black Lightning Fury Ranger!"

Next up, Natasha activated her morph, which teleported her into a realm of swirling vortexes. Each one slowly slid over her, suiting her in an orange and white suit. Her suit, though different from the others, included the same stripes on her right shoulder, ancient rune on the left, and insignia on the chest; however, her arms included long blue gloves that extended up to her deltoids and her belt hung loosely to the right. In flashes of orange, her shiny orange helmet appeared. A golden headdress sprouted from the helmet's forehead, bearing the ancient time symbol, and a device attached to her ears that resembled headphones. From each one, a microphone or sorts extended down toward her mouthpiece, then her white mouthpiece slipped into place. Finally, her black visor slipped into place as she called out:

"Eleven, Orange Temporal Fury Ranger!"

Similar to Natasha, Skylar suited up with swirling pink portals, which left a pink and blue Elespheri suit covering her body. Like Natasha as well, a silver, three-pointed headdress shot forth from her forehead on her helmet that teleported onto her head. In the middle was a pink gem that bore the ancient Dimension symbol. One comm.-link extended from her left ear, then her white visor slammed shut. Posing so that the details of her suit, like the Fury Stripes, symbols, and insignias all showed clearly, Skylar announced herself as:

"Twelve, Pink Dimensional Fury Ranger!"

"You've got two seconds to hightail your lily-white ass up to Mount Imperious and stay there," Hunter threatened, taking a step toward the God of the underworld.

"Even with your powers, blondie, you're going to need a lot more to kill an immortal."

"He's right, Hunter," Natasha muttered. "We should get out of here to get Wes to safety."

"He'll follow us," Nike replied quickly and just as quietly. "We'll have to hold him off to keep him away from the Megaship. If you guys can do that, I'll get Wes back to the ship to take care of him."

"Of course, sis."

"Ready to take him down, dude?" asked Dustin to Hunter.

"You know it."

The black and silver rangers took off at warp speed in blurs of their colors, colliding with the immense force that was Hades. The blows were thunderous, shattering rocks within meters of them. As they battled, Nike swooped up the injured and still unconscious Wes, taking flight as soon as she had him secured. Natasha and her pink counterpart Skylar both joined in the cataclysmic war in front of them, drawing their weapons in flashes of orange and pink.

"Andrea, do you read me?" Nike spoke through her communicator as soon as she had reached the other side of Hell's gateway.

"Loud and clear; what's up?" Andrea said through her Morpher.

"I've got Wes and I'm heading back to the ship, can you meet me there?"

"No can do," she paused and the sound of steel on steel filled the speakers of Nike's Morpher. "Kinda busy with Athena at the moment."

"Shit," the purple ranger cursed. "Alright, I'll do what I can on my own, but try to wrap it up as quickly as possible, Sky is still in danger of overloading his crystal and destroying his cerebral structure."

"I know," Andrea snapped back irritably, "I gotta go!"

A faint beep signaled the end of their conversation as Nike drew near the ship. She thanked her lucky stars and set Wes down on the medical bed in their sickbay, then went to gather her necessary utensils. She noted her shaky hands and chastised herself for developing feelings for the gold ranger. She knew it was stupid, she knew it would never work; yet she couldn't stop her heart from longing to be with him. Inwardly, she groaned, setting both hands on the counter as she tried to clear her head.

"It's only natural," her father said lowly from the doorway of the lab.

Nike looked to him, smiling thinly. "It doesn't make it any easier."

"Unfortunately, your duties as a princess and a ranger must come before your emotional desires."

"I know, but…I've had to be made of steel for so long now…it's just not fair that I've never had a chance to _live _like other girls. All these years? All this time I've been preparing for your return, and for the Fury Chosen; and for what? We can't even win at this rate—the Chrominites will _never _be destroyed. Yet all we can do is try."

"If we don't try, who will?"

"Someone else? There are hundreds of other rangers either already chosen or just waiting to be…let them take some responsibility."

"Nike, it is your responsibility as an Eltarian to protect the universe. I'm sorry I have not been there to better prepare you for this, but it cannot be changed. It has been written in our blood since the creation of the first Eltarian. We are the sworn enemies of evil and to everything supporting Cronus…and inside your being, you know it as well."

Nike was silent as she let several tears slip past her ironclad defenses. "It's just so hard."

Zordon moved forward to comfort his daughter, stroking her long blond hair slowly. "I know. I know."

—XVI—

"You will _pay _for this!" Athena growled.

"Do you accept Traveler's Checks?" Andrea snipped back.

In a dazzling flash of pink, she was gone.

"We won!" Leo cheered. "We just _beat _a god!"

Andrea let her guard down and chuckled a little, the Eltarian pride in her swelling to unbelievable proportions. She had helped vanquish one of her sworn enemies with the help of allies near and far. "Yeah, we did. We won. We fucking _WON!_"

Ecstatic, she jumped into Leo's arms, hooting like a wild child. It wasn't until they noticed the sobriety of Bridge and Sky that they remembered their mission.

"Shit, we need to get Sky back to the megaship, come on!"

Ryan, Carter, and Zhane followed Andrea, Leo, and the two SPD teammates, doing their best to keep up with the high speeds of Andrea and Bridge. Zhane had his super speed, but the others were otherwise grounded and lagging.

"Go ahead, we'll catch up when we can," Carter said, panting slightly. "You need to get Sky in there ASAP."

Bridge, who was now carrying the semi-conscious Sky, took no second glance backward as he increased his speed, Andrea and Zhane following suit.

"This has been one helluva day, huh?" Ryan asked nervously, noting this was his first time alone with Carter since their "kiss."

"Yeah, almost too much to handle sometimes," Carter replied nonchalantly.

"It has been stressful."

The grey and brown rangers grew silent as they trekked back to the Megaship.

"So…" Carter began, having picked up on Ryan's awkward feelings.

"So?"

"About…us. What…what's going on?"

Ryan hesitated, stopping in his path for a few moments.

"I'm not sure."

Carter stopped and turned around, his visor shooting open so he could look at Ryan, who also had his visor open.

"You really like me?" the polar ranger asked.

"Look…I know you're not into me, not like that at least; and I respect that. But…you have to respect my feelings too, Carter. I can't control them and I don't really have a say in how I feel. I've never had friends before I found my family, and now…well, you've been my best friends for the past, what, eight years? I guess I just blurred the line of friendship and love."

Carter was silent as he listened, and when Ryan finished, he remained quiet, simply standing there.

"I understand," he finally replied.

Ryan looked up, somewhat shocked.

"I care about you too, Ryan. You're my best friend. We'll have to deal with our own emotions on our own time and just put our friendship first."

Ryan smiled. "Right! Of course."

With that, they closed their visors and headed back to the ship, sharing opinions and such about their current adventure and wondering what would become of their friends and family that had been taken by the Chrominites.


	17. Lesson Learned

_**Chapter XVI—Lesson Learned**_

__"We should be there in about 30 minutes," Katherine said, reclining in her pilot chair.

"Good, we don't have much time to waste. I can tell things are going badly," Tommy responded, clenching and unclenching the fist at his side.

"Tommy," Kat said slowly, "Are you okay?"

"Why?"

"You just seem…on edge."

"I'm nervous," he finally said after considering the analysis.

"I know…after all these years: Zordon? It seems somewhat like a dream."

Tommy grimaced for a mere fraction of a second, so quickly that Kat wondered if she'd seen him right. She ignored it and stood from the chair. "I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee; would you like one?"

"No, I'm already jittery," he responded tersely.

Again, Kat furrowed her eyebrows at his behavior, but said nothing anyway.

"Okay, I'll see if Jason wants—"

"No, thank you," Jason muttered as Kat almost bumped into him when she turned to head for the exit of the bridge.

"Oh…right."

With that, she scooted past Jason and through the doors toward the kitchenette onboard. Something was definitely off, that was for sure; but what it was, she didn't quite know. Justin seemed to be the only normal acting person onboard, and he had barricaded himself in a room while blasting music into his eardrums.

Kat sighed as she looked out one of the many portal windows into the vast depths of space. She had never been before, except to Rita's palace, but somehow, she didn't think that counted. It was much more impressive than she'd originally imagined, as she'd always heard how cold and dark it was—someone must have forgotten to mention the billions of stars clustering around like wild fireflies.

"Kat?"

The former pink ranger jumped, spinning around to meet her unexpected company.

Justin gave her a confused glance as he looked her over. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine, just…you scared me, is all."

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled. "Kat, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course, Justin, what is it?"

Looking around, he took her hand and pulled her into the kitchen bay of the ship. "There's something weird going on. I mean, with Tommy and Jason."

Kat also checked their surroundings as she rubbed her arms and suppressed a shiver. "Yeah, I know. Tommy's never resorted to violence as a first answer. Especially on humans! And they're both so…somber and monotone. It's a little frightening, honestly."

Justin thought for several moments. "Maybe we should see what Taylor thinks."

"Taylor thinks this entire mission is a trap," the Yellow Wild Force ranger interrupted, sitting up from her reclined position in a chair hidden from immediate view.

"What do you mean?" Kat demanded.

"I hacked into the security logs on this old ship and was able to access the recent trips. This thing hasn't been on Earth for very long; it just traveled from Infernus to Earth only yesterday."

Both Kat and Justin were struck silent.

"That's when Tommy and Jason were in 'New York.'"

"Are you saying someone's taken control of them?" asked Justin.

"In a sense; yes."

Kat and Justin looked dumbfounded.

"I've tried contacting the rangers on Infernus, but there's a lot of disturbance keeping me from making contact; however, I did manage to hack into the communications on Infernus and learned that one of the rangers…one of the rangers died."

"What?"

"Who?" Justin half-shouted.

"The Gold Ranger, Wes; he…he took on Ares by himself. Some Quantrons on the planet's surface were talking about it."

"We've got to get to Infernus, then," Kat said defiantly. "If rangers are being killed, I say it's time to withdraw from the planet, even if Zordon _is _there."

"No, we've got to help them!" Justin disagreed. "This could be our only chance to fight the Chrominites off Earth, away from innocent civilians."

"He's right," Taylor backed him. "Besides; I don't think Tommy and Jason would let us just leave if they've gone through all this trouble to get us to Infernus."

"So what do we do now?" wondered the Australian.

"We wait," Justin said, his tone of finality bringing an eerie shiver to the females on board with him.

—XVII—

"This shouldn't take long," Zordon said, cracking his knuckles as the Fury team looked on anxiously.

Wes's body lay semi-lifeless on a med table, his new morpher next to him like a memento to his duties and life.

Zordon extended his hands over the male's body so that they hovered mere inches from it. A green light began to radiate from his fingertips as he hummed an ancient chant. Suddenly, the former gold ranger's eyes shot open, his pupils non-existent at first, and then slowly resuming their shape. He sucked in a painful, coughing gasp before his body fell limp and he resumed normal breathing.

"Welcome back," Zordon murmured.

"Wes!" the others began exclaiming, huddling around his bed and exchanging various welcomes, thanks, and so forth.

"Now for customer number two," said Zordon as he mimicked his previous motions over Sky's injured body.

The wounds visible on his body began to fade before the red ranger flicked his eyes open in a fluttering fashion.

"Feeling better?" Bridge asked, having never left his comrade's side.

"Much," Sky grumbled, leaning up on his bed. "How long have I been out?"

"About 20 minutes, travel time included."

He grinned at Bridge's precision.

"All accounted for?" asked Zordon, glancing around the room.

"Let's do a roll call, shall we?" piped up Andrea. "Wes has returned from his less than stellar vacation, Sky's had his wounds licked, Ryan and Carter have returned from their stroll, Leo's incessantly picking at his cuticles," the white ranger stopped and playfully glared, "Bridge is still at his boss's side, Zhane is, unfortunately, still present."

The blue ranger coughed loudly at her sarcasm.

"Dustin, myself, my brother, and my sister are all still here. And our two newbies have survived their first epic battle, and dad's done making his nursing rounds. I'd say we're all pretty present."

The entire room stared at Andrea.

"What?" she demanded, bewildered.

"Get a life, Andrea," Nike joked, patting her sister's shoulder softly.

The room, for once, let out a hearty laugh as it finally relaxed.

"So, does someone wanna tell me what the hell's going on here?" Wes asked as politely as possible, though his confusion added a slight edge to his tone.

"Wes, I'd like you to meet my father; Zordon," Nike said, patting the former gold ranger's shoulder.

"_The _Zordon?"

The King of Eltar chuckled. "Guilty."

"When Ares and Artemis were moving in for the kill, dad intercepted them and helped us recalibrate the morphers into braces. And…as you can tell, he's responsible for bringing you back to life," Nike explained simply. The blond turned to her sister and asked, "What's the status on Wes resuming his position as Gold Ranger?"

"Not good. The stone won't react to his body at all. It's most likely the residual energies still left in his body. They should die down in about a month or two, but until then, we need a replacement. Desperately."

"Anyone know any rent-a-rangers?" Wes asked dismally.

"Well, Tommy and a group of Earth rangers who escaped capture by the Chrominites should be here soon," Zordon replied. "I'm sure Tommy wouldn't mind adding another color to his roster."

"His trace Black Ranger powers will reject the stone, though," Andrea said, shaking her head. "Who else is on board?"

"Katherine Hillard and Taylor Earhart are, as well as Jason Scott and Justin Stewart."

"Kat's Zeo Crystal powers are still in her body, and Taylor's forever bonded with her Eagle Spirit, despite the Wild Rangers' inactivity. Jason _might _be able to take the morpher since the Gold Ranger powers left him completely, but I don't know how effective his Tyrannosaurus powers will be against the stone," Nike chimed in.

"Well Justin hasn't morphed in years," Zhane pointed out. "The last time he did it was to save my team from Ka—Astronema."

"Then we'll have to ask Justin how he feels about resuming his ranger status," said Zordon with a hint of conclusiveness.

"So what's the deal with these morphers? And what was up with that battleizer I had?" Sky asked.

"The morphers will prevent a buildup of jewel energy in your cerebral structure, thus inhibiting any instances of possible psychosis or loss of control," Zordon responded. "The battleizer was a result of that control loss. In the future, it may be possible to harness that power to its fullest and controllable extent. As of now, the battleizer is off limits."

"Is it something we can all do, or just the red ranger?" questioned Hunter, uncrossing his arms.

"No idea," Andrea answered. "In theory, we should all be able to achieve a similar power. It's unknown because no one outside of a red ranger has ever really had an official battleizer."

"In the mean time, we need to get together a game plan," Natasha interrupted. "The Chrominites are not going to take well to a defeat, or to the fact that Zordon's reaching his full power."

Zordon scoffed as politely as possible. "This is nowhere near my full power. It will take nearly a year for that to return fully."

"Regardless," she pressed carefully, "they will _not _be pleased. Failure is not a directive for them, and they will see to it that it does not happen again."

The Rangers were not quite accustomed to her lack of optimism and bristled at her robotic responses.

"Well, I'd say our main priority is to find your guys' mom," Dustin suggested after a long period of silence.

Hunter, Andrea, and Nike nodded.

"Any luck finding her location, dad?" Andrea wondered, turning to her father.

"Some." He walked to the holo-map in the middle of the room and brought up an area near a large mountain ridge. "The Chrominite Base is somewhere in this vicinity. The main problem is that all 12 of them are there, posing a major threat to any infiltration plan. The only plausible way to rescue her would be to do a Ninjetti Spirit Ritual, reawakening her ancient powers."

"Ninjetti?" asked Sky, bewildered. "No offense sir, but aren't the Ninjetti powers…you know…dead?"

"Power never really dies. The Ninja spirits channeled by my original team were similar, but very different to those of the Ancient Order of the Meledon."

"Order of the Meledon?" Zhane spoke up. "What's that?"

"Thousands of years ago, the universe saw its original team of Power Rangers, though very unique from all of you and your modern predecessors or previous incarnations. A team constructed from the planet Eltar channeled the first Zordian spirits to tap into the Morphing Grid, which was, at the time, maintained by the constant struggle of good versus evil. It is a common misconception that the Morphin Grid was fueled by my rivalry with Lord Zed. As you now know, that is false. This is the reason power never actually dies."

"So who were the Order of the Meledon?" repeated Leo.

"I founded them during my first century as King of Eltar. The Purple Eel Spirit was known as Ivan Oozeminos, while his brother, Lokar was the Black Gator. Rita, the spirit of the fox, was the blue designation, while Dimitria was the Pink Flamingo. Her sister, Diva, was the Yellow Tiger. Zed was known then as the Red Gorilla, and Dulcea was the White Owl." He paused momentarily, then pressed on. "I am the Green Serpent, leader of the Order, and harbinger of the powers as of now."

"I recognize those names," Bridge noted. "Aren't Lokar, Diva—or Divatox, Rita, and Zed villains? And isn't Ivan Oozeminos the morphological being known as Ivan Ooze?"

"Very astute of you, Bridge," commended Zordon. "They were, indeed, villains. Many years ago, a sort of mutiny occurred after mine and Dimitira's marriage. The other members became wary, fearing favoritism and an imbalance in power. They thought their importance and role in the Order would be overridden by not only my status as King, but Dimitria's new role as Queen."

"So what happened?" asked Carter, Ryan nodding to his question.

"The Great War began. Zed, in an attempt to overpower me, sought out the Zeo Crystal. With evil intentions at heart, he was rejected by its force field and 'permanently' scarred. He and Rita formed an alliance with Lokar and the more powerful Ivan, who unleashed his Ectomorphicons on Eltar. Originally, Diva helped us in our struggle. It wasn't until the Chrominites invaded that she unwillingly betrayed us. As you know, I banished Rita to a…dumpster, for lack of better word…and Zed fled after Ivan was imprisoned in his chamber on Earth. Lokar's whereabouts were unknown until Rita recruited him after her expected escape."

"Wow," exclaimed Skylar. "We definitely didn't learn about this in a History of Rangering at the Academy."

Sky and Bridge nodded knowingly.

"You mentioned earlier that you were the harbinger for the powers," noted Ryan. "What does that mean?"

"I currently hold the dormant spirits inside me. I, unfortunately, cannot utilize any except my Serpent, whose power is halved until the remaining users return."

"But that's impossible. Lokar and Ivan Ooze—Oozeminos, I mean—are dead," Andrea pointed out.

"Yes…I am aware of that complication," Zordon sighed. "My only hope is to recruit the other members of the Order and find new users to occupy the vacancies."

"Not to be a Debbie-Downer," Zhane began, "but Rita, Zed, and Diva are back to their old ways. We ran into them on our way here. Along with Astronema."

"Well…for lack of a better word…_fuck_."

Andrea chuckled at her father.

"We'll find another way, dad," said Nike.

—XVII—

"Well, this is an unexpected turn of events," Zeus sighed, trying to contain his anger.

"Sir, if I may, our reinforcements are still on the way," offered Athena.  
"This is true. And all is not lost. I have acquired more of the necessary items to finish Pandora's Box."

Hera swiveled her head to glance at Zeus. "Really?"

"Yes."

"I was unaware. I was not notified of these developments."

"Irrelevant," snapped Zeus. "Our directive is to use these powers to release Cronus. You will adapt to the current circumstances and proceed as previously planned."

Hera resumed her original position, ignoring Zeus altogether. She did not like being out of the loop.

"In the meantime, we need to keep Dimitria under heavy security," reported Ares. "I know Zordon will be anxious to rescue her."

"Wrong. Zordon would not risk the life of more rangers so soon. He knows our defenses are infallible. We will not fall so easily again."

"Then we should leave her unguarded? Father, I do not trust the witch. She is crafty beyond belief, and she possesses quite formidable telepathy. Even the neuroinhibitors cannot keep her detained for long," Ares worried. "If she is allowed to escape, Zordon could restore her Ninjetti Powers, and—"

"Noted," Zeus interrupted.

"Then we will continue as planned. We are making headway on the Cronus Ritual and have sufficient supplies to continue. Would you like us to continue to agitate the rangers? The more they are allowed time, the more they can plan," Artemis mused.

Zeus gave a coy grin as he scratched his chin. "There is no need for us to continue to pester them. Once our reinforcements arrive, we will have expendable troops besides these all-but-_useless _foot soldiers."

"Perfect," cheered Hermes. "I will go to Hades' realm to get a full report on the battle so we may learn the rangers' move sets."

"Excellent," said Zeus. "Neptune, prepare Dionysus, Helios, Eos, and Selene for battle; However, I need Hades to stay here to reapply the malice ray."

"Affirmative," said Neptune as he disappeared in a splash of water.

"Things are coming together quite nicely," the Ruler of the Gods purred as he checked the distance of his reinforcements from Infernus.

"Drones, execute Objective Beta-Six. It is time to empty the cargo."

—XVII—

Tommy's eyes glowed simultaneously with Jason's as he received his orders from Zeus.

"Confirmed."

He stood from his piloting chair, unanimous with Jason, and headed to the kitchen where the other three rangers were. It was time.

Jason grabbed a perpetuating blaster while Tommy snatched up a tranquilizing laser. This would be easy.

As they entered the dark kitchen, their instincts kicked in. Something was not right.

"Kat?" Tommy called out cautiously.

"Justin?" Jason tried.

Out of nowhere, Kat jump kicked the blaster out of Tommy's hands, then tossed it to Taylor, who quickly pointed it at Jason's already aiming form.

"Don't move," he growled at the former yellow ranger.

"Stalemate."

Tommy smirked at Taylor. "Hardly."

Justin re-entered the room from his hiding place, a laser held in his hand as well.

"More like checkmate."

Tommy's grin immediately fell to a grimace.

"Follow us," Kat demanded as she led the way, Taylor and Justin keeping their weapons leveled as they snatched Jason's from his hands.

The three rangers led their two renegades to the bridge of the ship, thrusting them into the pilot seats.

"Now, what you're going to do is take us to Infernus," Taylor began instructing. "You're going to contact your superiors right now and tell them you've apprehended us. Understand.?"

Tommy—or Tommy's body—spit at Taylor, missing just by a hair.

"Look, either you do it, or I pump Tommy's body full of a neural immobilizer that'll paralyze your brain for a good ten years minimum. Got it?"

Kat and Justin looked at Taylor bewildered, but kept silent nonetheless. Tommy's eyes darted from the syringe in Taylor's hand to her perfectly smooth face, devoid of any emotion.

"Fine," he snarled.

He swiveled in his chair and opened a communications channel, Taylor, Justin, and Kat stood away from the screen, watching Tommy's body converse with an unseen face.

"Affirmative, sir; I have captured the ranger group and am en route to Infernus."

As the channel closed, Taylor stepped closer to Tommy. The man was too fast for her and the blaster and syringe were on the ground before she knew what happened.

"You shouldn't attack those stronger than you, little girl," he spat.

Justin attempted to punch the attacker, but his fist was blocked and swept aside easily.

"Justin, run!" Kat screamed as Jason caught her by the throat, slamming her into a wall.

The once blue ranger was conflicted, looking from both attackers to their victims, then back at the blaster on the ground. Tommy was headed for him now that Taylor had been subdued. He had no choice.

He ran for Stormblaster.

—XVII—

Justin Stewart opened his groggy eyes, the red surroundings confusing him slightly.

"Stormblaster," he groaned, "coordinates."

The car beeped its response, a chart appearing on the small view screen on the dashboard.

"Where are the other rangers, Stormblaster?"

Several beeps and a point of the steering wheel later, Justin had a vague idea. "Then let's get going."

The blue jeep departed quietly as Justin tried to piece together the last few hours. He knew he'd escaped the old Nasada craft a little too easily, granted Stormblaster's warp-speed capabilities and personal atmospheric shielding; nonetheless, he knew none of that would help him on the ground. And with an entire planet to search for the Fury Rangers, he had no idea how he was going to keep himself from being destroyed at the hands of some severely outdated foot soldiers.

It was all he could do, though, to keep his mind off Katherine and Taylor.

He fought back the bile that rose in his throat as he remembered the way Jason had grabbed Kat's neck. It looked so frail in his large and powerful hands, as if a flick of the wrist could snap the life right out of her.

Shaking his head, he checked the energy remaining in his Turbo Morpher. Less than 4%. He wouldn't have enough to even call out the morphing call if he ran into trouble, and even if he forwarded all its available energy to Stormblaster, he knew the Sentient Car would have no way of reaching maximum warp to escape from any attackers. It was all up to luck. And Justin hated luck.

"Think we could try contacting them, Stormblaster?"

The car responded indignantly.

"You're right; we'd probably end up attracting some unwanted company. Do you know approximately how far the rangers are?"

Stormblaster stopped abruptly.

Justin cocked his head. "What kind of response was that?"

Beep. Beep.

"What? I don't see anything!"

Beep, beep, beep.

"Stormblaster, I know you're tired and all, but there is nothing—"

Instantly, he was flung from the car.

"What the hell? Come on! This isn't the time for you to be on the rag, Stormblaster."

Revving its engine, Stormblaster pushed Justin backward until his head hit something hard. And metallic.

"Cloaking?"

Stormblaster let out a pitiful beep that sounded more like a mock sigh.

"Go blow a gasket," Justin snipped, rubbing the back of his head where he'd hit it.

Removing his morpher from the glove box, he held it up to the cloaking and announced his presence.

"Justin Stewart, Blue Turbo Ranger."

A small portal appeared in front of him, sucking both him and Stormblaster in.

"I just hope this is the right ship," Justin sighed.

"Welcome."

Justin spun around, fists at the ready. He was facing a tall blond man with unruly hair and a scruffy face who was all clad in green.

"No one said anything about hobos on board," he joked.

The man stiffened. "It is good to see you again, as well, Justin."

"Again? Who are you?"

"My father. Zordon," a short redhead said from the hallway to his left.

"No way."

Zordon smirked. "Way."

—XVII—

"They have been completely recalibrated and modulated to combat the rangers with equal or greater power. They will draw power from their opposing color, specializing in pinpointing that ranger's weakness and exploiting it," said Hera. "And the best part is…they are complete and total individuals hell-bent on destroying the rangers. Since they retain their individuality…we are not penalized for 'killing' if that is what they do."

Zeus smiled wickedly. "Perfect. Now we can obtain the Cronus Stone without having to worry about that nasty little 'rule' of not killing anyone."

"They are ready to go, if you'd like to send them now."

"Let's wait a while. I'd like to see these prototypes in action. Anyway, I need to check on Hades' Malice Ray application."

"I meant to tell you," Hera said to Zeus's retreating form, "Athena has a full report on the rangers' battleizer ready for you when you are available."

"Excellent. You may proceed with training your prototypes."

With that, Zeus rounded the corner, heading swiftly to communications. He had a message waiting from his drones.

"Master, it appears the Blue Turbo Ranger was successful in his voyage to Infernus. Our long range scanners detect no further life-sign emissions from him, however; it is likely he incinerated upon entry of the planet's atmosphere. Drone 8472 and I were successful in retaining Katherine Hillard and Taylor Earhardt, however; they are in tow with us as I speak. We are approximately 72 minutes from the Chrominite Infernus Base. Drone 8471 out."

Zeus did not notice he was crushing part of the communications console. Losing a ranger was **not** an option.

"Drone 8471; I want Justin Stewart or his remains found _immediately_. We cannot risk dealing with another ranger under the guidance of Zordon. If you fail me again, I will permanently fail your life-support systems; is that understood?"

Several seconds of silence filled the room before the sound of the drone's response came through. "Acknowledged."

Zeus rammed his fist through the rest of the consol, his anger going unchecked. "I am too close to lose, now!"

As he left, he passed several troops. "Repair the communications console."

—XVII—

"Gold Ranger? Really?"

"It's just a temporary thing," Wes responded hotly. "Just until these residual things go away."

"Yeah, of course," Justin enthused, clapping his hands. "How do I do this thing?"

Andrea looked to Nike uneasily.

"Well…we have just finished reconstructing the morpher bands…all you should have to do is put it on your arm. The stone should reconfigure to your genetic coding and signature so that no one else—besides Wes upon his re-aptitude—can access them. Unless, of course, you die."

Justin blinked, looking at Nike like she had just spoken the entire phrase in Eltarian.

The middle Zeta child sighed. "The morpher will only work for you."

"Awesome!"

"You'll need some extensive training in the simudeck before action, though," Hunter said, having spoken for the first time in a while.

"What?"

"Training," the black ranger said firmly. "These powers are unlike anything you've ever experienced and I want you at full strength when we have to go up against Chrominite forces."

"Gotcha…" Justin said slowly.

"I'll train with you."

"Excellent idea," Zordon said. "In the meantime, your sisters, Sky, and I will research the battleizer some more. Zhane, Leo, and Ryan, I want you to begin a scan for Tommy and Jason; see if you can get a lock on that Nasada craft and pinpoint Kat and Taylor. The rest of you should probably relax while you can."

As the Fury Rangers headed their separate ways, Justin hid the growing feeling of inadequacy he'd felt his entire life. Here he was again; a last resort to temporarily fill in for an injured ranger. Even though he was a senior ranger, he was still treated like a kid. Hell, he'd made the mistake of calling Zordon a hobo. It was times like this he wondered why he even still tried.

Then he remembered Kat and the look of anguish on her face as Jason lifted her off the ground with his monstrous hands. The look in her eyes. He had to give her hope. He was her last hope.

—XVII—

"See, you're starting to get the hang of it," Hunter complimented. "You have to feel the element before you can bend it to your will."

"You've been doing this for a while, haven't you?" Justin asked, his visor clicking open.

"You could say that," Hunter panted in reply, also opening his visor. "I was on the Ninja Storm team as the element of Thunder, so switching to lightning wasn't that big of a change. In some ways, it was, but lightning is destructive—raw and brutal power. Thunder is calm, contained; it's focused into one explosive attack or onslaught of attacks."

"You mean there are like…personalities to go with the powers?" Justin asked, sitting on a bench as the simulation ended.

"Of course. For example, Sky. He controls pure energy. In order to control something so chaotic and abstract, you have to have absolute control over your mind and body; he's been in SPD for the majority of his life, so he exhibits complete self-control. For Earth, you have to be unbending, sure, and durable. Ryan was raised by demons and almost killed the last of his family; he's been through a ton of hardships and still came out on top."

Hunter powered down and tossed a water bottle to Justin as he downed his own.

"What about the others?"

The ninja looked at Justin curiously, then continued. "Well, there's water, which is ever-changing but soothing at the same time, exuding an aura of reassurance: Leo's the perfect example of that, since he was a reluctant leader and, in a lot of ways, like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the new gold ranger snapped.

"You're hard on yourself. You think that because you're a 'last resort' that you're less valuable—like you don't belong or something."

"H-how did you know that?"

"I read people pretty well."

"Let's not talk about me yet…keep going…I'm interested in all this 'elemental personality' stuff."

Hunter chuckled. "If you really want to, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get to know your teammates this way…"

Justin shrugged and sat back down on the bench, his legs drawn up to his chin as he listened to Hunter talk.

"Ice is solid and has the potential to overtake everything. It's unpredictable, though; at some places it's thin, at others it's thick; the only thing you can be sure of is that it will overcome you if you let it. No matter how you fight it, it'll absorb everything you throw at it, and keep coming. Carter's the same way. You never know if he'll be up for doing something, but you can always count on him to back you up, regardless of the issues going on between you and him.

"Next is the Solar Ranger, Bridge, who uses the sun for power. It's pretty self-explanatory; bright, energetic, extremely powerful. Though you can't tell, Bridge hides an immense power, which is why he wears his gloves everywhere. If he were to touch something without his gloves, his mind could be overwhelmed with the feelings and energy stored in that object. This power threatens to destroy him at any point in time…almost like the sun could explode from its massive store of energy."

Hunter took a break to let Justin absorb the information, his silence showing how much he contemplated the connections between elements and people.

"And Zhane is fire, right? Does that mean he's wild and uncontrollable?"

Hunter laughed. An all-out, true laugh.

"To an extent, yes," he said, laughter still tickling his cheeks. "It also indicates intense passion and a need for companionship. Most people think of fire as a destructive, solitary force, but it needs earth to spread and air to breathe. Zhane's no different. Without his friends, his passion and power die to embers."

"What about Dustin?"

Hunter cleared his throat. "I'm not sure, there."

"Weren't you two teammates? You probably know him better than anyone onboard."

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Justin questioned, confused.

"Nothing."

"Uh…okay? I mean, it's just air; how is that hard to describe?"

"Andrea is the Astral Ranger," Hunter continued, ignoring Justin's suggestion of Dustin. "She is bright, distant, and beautiful, but could end up destroying herself with all the energy and anger she bottles up. Like a star, she's easy to misjudge at first glance. You have to really get to know her before you can see the real brilliance inside."

Justin blinked, his brows furrowing. Hunter had intentionally avoided Dustin, oddly enough. He'd have thought describing him would be the easiest since Hunter had technically known him longer than he'd known his own sisters.

"Moving on, we've got Nike and the moon. She's got different sides that are sometimes shown in portions, sometimes shown all at once, and sometimes hardly at all. She keeps a very reserved side that no one knows about and puts on a great front of a composed and controlled young lady…but she's got some human qualities underneath it all. In any relationship she has, she tends to kinda…orbit people, never doing anything for herself; she's kind of a sacrificial person, but you have to appreciate it...because she's not always there in totality. Kinda like the moon."

"And what about Natasha and Skylar? How do you define space and time?"

"That's just it, dude," Hunter sighed. "You don't."

"Huh?"

"Time is something none of us really understand; it's all perspective. To me, 5 minutes is nothing. To someone who's dying, 5 minutes is everything. It's the same with space; perspective."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am; that's why I'm the leader."

Hunter smirked and extended a hand to Justin. "Come on, we should get cleaned up and meet the others on the bridge. I have a feeling the Chrominites won't stay quiet for much longer."


	18. Ranger Rivalry

_**Chapter XVIII—Ranger Rivalry**_

Dustin Brooks, the Silver Cyclone Fury Ranger, was confused. He knew Hunter was his best friend. He knew he cared about Hunter, probably even loved him; but did that mean he could _be_ with him?

The silver ranger rolled over in his bed, his thoughts wandering back to Hades' realm where he was sure he'd die. He remembered Hunter's apology as the life slowly left his body. He remembered Hunter kneeling over him. Dustin could recall having Hunter shove his fist into his chest, pumping electricity into his heart and revitalizing him.

_You saved me_.

_Of course I did, dude. I…I wouldn't let you die on me._

_But you…you saved my __life__._

_Anything for you, dude._

Dustin was jarred from his thoughts by someone buzzing to enter his room.

"It's open," he called out.

"Hey, you holding up okay?"

It was Nike, Hunter's younger sister. The prospect of Hunter even having a family was still slightly new to Dustin, but it was something he found himself rather enjoying.

"Yeah, having some trouble sleeping, though," he confessed.

"Being dead is actually a lot less exhausting than people would think," Nike joked.

Dustin grinned, sitting up in his bed and commanding the lights on.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"Ah, not much…battleizer's pretty much offline, but dad thinks we might be able to harness some other form of power with further training. He wants to take us to Eltar to perfect our powers, but…"

Dustin picked up on the apprehension in her voice.

"You don't wanna go back."

It was more of a statement than a question.

"You can tell, huh?"

"Only a lot."

Nike sighed. "It's my home, so I should be excited. But…I don't remember it. Any of it. And I've had to hide out on Earth for so long that I know nothing about being Eltarian. I can't even speak the language."

"Yeah, but here's your chance to learn," Dustin offered up. "Besides, think of how Hunter must feel; dude's gotta get used to all this _and _the fact that he's supposed to be like, God, or something."

Nike chuckled, "I suppose you're right in that aspect."

"You guys'll be fine, you've got Zordon as your dad."

"Oh, no, wait," Nike said, picking up on Dustin's misunderstanding. "You guys are going, too."

"Wait, what?"

"By _our _powers, I meant the rangers," she corrected. "Once we get my mom out of Chrominite hands, we've got to get to Eltar as fast as possible before the Chrominites can mount an attack."

"I see," Dustin mumbled.

The purple ranger sensed the awkwardness and urgency in her voice, so she changed the topic as best she could.

"Speaking of Hunter…"

"What about him?" the ex-ninja ranger asked almost defensively.

"Well…it's just that you guys seemed kinda…intimate down in Hades."

"He had my heart in his fist," Dustin nervously laughed, "We didn't really have a choice, did we?"

Nike laughed as well. "I guess not, but…well…I'm pretty sure he has a bit of a…'thing' for you."

Now the motocross freestyler sighed. "I know."

"Oh."

"Can I…can I tell you something? Something you _won't _tell Hunter?"

"Of course," Nike said, pulling her legs up into a cross-legged position on Dustin's bed as she faced him.

"I think…I think I _might_ have some kind of feelings for him too. I'm just…I'm really, really confused about it all."

Nike nodded, her mouth trying to form words that simply would not come.

"And I know it's like, weird, and stuff, you know? Cuz he is my best friend and stuff, and I know he's a _guy_, so it makes it, like, twenty-times weirder. _Plus_, the fact that he's a prince or whatever…that kind of complicates things even more."

Nike grinned at Dustin's obvious frustration. "Dustin…chill. It's more biologically natural for Eltarians to have feelings towards those of the same sex. On Eltar, it's a way of life no different than heterosexual couples. Hunter doesn't have the same genetic coding…this doesn't feel weird for him."

"Are you seriously telling me there's a gay gene?"

"Let's…_not_ get into that," Nike said cautiously. "What I am saying is that you're being ridiculous. If you have any feelings for my brother, you should give it a shot…even if it doesn't work."

"What if it messes everything up, though?"

"Isn't that the risk you run every day? When I wake up in the morning, I wonder if I'm going to mess up. When Wes died…I blamed myself; I thought that I had changed his destiny to one of death. But people make choices that you can't control. Even if you don't tell Hunter how you feel, who's to say he'll be fine remaining your friend; to see you go off and marry someone else?"

Dustin chewed his bottom lip as he brought his feet up like Nike's, now sitting cross-legged. "Well how do I tell him, then?"

"You could try the subtle approach," the brunette suggested. "Or, you could just come out and say you like him and want to give it a chance. Or you could just kiss him."

Dustin grinned wryly, "I know all about that scenario."

"So I've heard," the lunar ranger whispered before she burst into laughter.

—XVIII—

Red lights replaced the usual calm lighting of the megaship as alarms blared from the intercoms.

"Red alert!" DECA's voice chirped.

"Report!" Hunter shouted as he ran onto the bridge, missing a shirt and his hair still damp from the shower that was interrupted.

"Sensors indicate multiple life forms approaching the outer cloaking shield."

The rest of the team began to file in hurriedly, each of them in his or her own state of disarray.

"What's going on?" Andrea asked, yawning.

"DECA's picking up multiple life forms advancing on our target," Hunter repeated quickly.

"Do you think they know where we are?" asked Leo solemnly.

"It's not likely, but you never know," Zhane answered as he took a station. "DECA, on screen."

The visual window blinked on, displaying a horde of henchmen marching unmistakably toward the Megaship.

"Do we have enough power to fight them all at this point?" Nike, having just entered the room with Dustin, voiced her question.

Zordon frowned. "Undoubtedly, yes. The question is why Zeus would send a troupe of henchmen to attack us if he knows our location."

"He wouldn't," Natasha snapped. "I don't know who ordered this attack, but it wasn't Zeus."

"Look, we can't just sit here," Carter pointed out angrily. "If we wait any longer, they'll be at our shields, and who knows if they've got a disruptor on them or not!"

" Carter's right," Ryan mumbled.

"What do the long range scanners say, DECA?" demanded Sky, who was tense and still.

"Long range scanners do not detect any sign of activity."

"Then if we take out this battalion, we can regroup back on the ship and plan our route for rescuing Dimitria," Bridge began planning. "We can't wait for Zeus to make his move, because he's probably trying to find our location now. If he does that, we're pretty much screwed."

"Bridge has a point," Hunter conceded. "We need to go on the offensive. Just not in the way Zeus would think."

"How exactly do you plan on 'surprising' the Chrominites? They are infinitely clever," Natasha frowned.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Justin said sarcastically. The look he received from the half-Chrominite orange ranger could probably have melted half his face.

"We'll have to work on it as we go," Hunter said rapidly, "time to take care of business."

As they ran down to the boarding platform, each of them could feel the battle rising in their blood. It was like some sort of sick adrenaline rush for which they'd all begun to have an affinity. Maybe it was just a primal instinct to thirst for vengeance or some form of anger release. It was something they would have to learn to live with, as they had grown so used to feeling so intensely to fuel their morphers, that they'd almost forgotten how to keep their emotions in check.

The rangers skidded to a halt as they exited the Megaship. The henchmen had halted just outside the invisibility barrier.

"Once we step outside, DECA will automatically lower the cloaking barrier and raise our deflector shields. We won't be able to get back inside for at least another hour."

Hunter looked to Nike and cracked his neck. "That's plenty of time to rescue Dimitria and get back here for some lunch."

"Mom," Andrea corrected bitterly.

Hunter balled his fists, but let it slide. Accepting new parents was something he didn't much look forward to. Without responding, he stepped through the cloaking barrier and faced his opponents. They seemed to have grown in number…

"Ready guys?" Sky called out as the rest of them stepped through the barrier.

"Let's do this!" Leo shouted.

Several "HYAH"s could be heard before the 13 rangers took off, Wes and Zordon watching from the bridge.

Sky's glowing red fist met with the face of an unlucky Piranhatron as he let loose with a flurry of punches. As they began to fall back, he paired his hands at the base of his palms, twisting his fingers inward like a claw, before he cried out "Energy Eraser!" From his outstretched hands came a wave of red energy that annihilated the rest of his foes.

Leo and Zhane were alternating attacks with one another; water and fire, respectively, as they flipped over and around each other to land kicks and elbow strikes. The blue ranger swept a Batling off its feet while Leo kicked its fallen body into a horde of Tyrannodrones.

"How did all these henchmen get here in the first place?" Bridge called over to Skylar, who was handling her own troupe of Tenga Warriors.

"No idea!" she responded, bringing her heel down on the back of a fallen Cog. "But I don't feel like asking questions!"

Bridge grinned, then turned his attention back to the Putrids clawing at him before he unleashed a blitz of solar energy.

Several meters from Bridge, Dustin was manhandling anyone stupid enough to come near him. With his brutal Earth Ninja training and his even more brutal cyclone powers, there was no enemy strong enough to take him down. He launched himself from the ground and began to spin in the air, creating a mini-tornado that blew away anything within 10 feet of him.

Meanwhile, Justin and Hunter, Thunder and Lightning, were showing off with the power of weather and destroying anything that touched them. As the forces before them were decimated, Justin couldn't help but wonder how his body had adjusted to the Golden Thunder powers so quickly. Maybe what Hunter said was true; maybe they bonded with him because of his personality and because he let so much bottle up before he finally just lashed out. Whatever it was, it worked for him.

The Grey Ranger, Carter, and the Brown Ranger, Ryan, were both working expertly together. Carter's merciless combination of icicle shards and glacial shielding kept his attackers at a far distance, while Ryan's more than impressive hand-to-hand combat skills proved more than deadly to those unfortunate enough to be standing by him. The giant mounds of solid ground that he could bring up at will didn't really help his assailants much, either.

Andrea and Nike demonstrated what martial arts combat skills they had while unmorphed, and completely devastated anyone in their path. Nike glimpsed to her right, her rich brown hair whisking by her face like a whip as she did so; flinging her hand out, she charged a burst of lunar energy and unleashed it on a group of Stingwingers. Right behind her, Andrea was mimicking her motion with a large portion of her astral energy incinerating the encroaching Kelzaks.

Bit by bit, the team began to reassemble. None of the henchmen remained, save a few scraps of cogs.

"On to the big leagues," Hunter sighed. A flash of green denoted the presence of Zordon—his father.

"I assume we're ready to 'head out' then?" Zordon asked in a bemused tone.

"Yes," Natasha replied shortly. "We need to make this covert and quick if we are to make it back alive."

"Gotta love that Chrominite Charm," Zhane joked, only to receive a cold stare from Natasha.

"She's right," Skylar backed. "If we don't hurry, the Chrominites themselves will descend upon us like vultures. We may be tough, but we can't beat even one of them without that battleizer."

"Well standing here is just wasting time; let's go," Sky finalized.

With a final look at one another, the rangers began to sprint into the dense jungle toward the Chrominite domain.

"Guys, Wes here; I've got the coordinates of Chrominite Energy pinpointed and I'm transferring them to your Fury Braces now."

As they ran, each ranger checked his or her brace to see a navigational panel displaying directions.

"According to this, they're just a few miles away," Andrea reported, hardly short of breath.

"Let's keep moving, then," Hunter instructed.

—XVIII—

"Master, I'm detecting 14 life signatures; 4 of which are Eltarian," Hermes reported from his mainframe.

"What?" The Chrominite ruler leaned forward in his throne, gazing at the monitor. There, a cluster of energy was moving forward at rapid speeds, with four of the blips glowing a cool blue.

"So Zordon is more foolish than I'd anticipated," he mused to himself.

"Do you want me to send out our special troops?" Hera grinned.

"Affirmative," Zeus replied quickly. "In the meantime, we need to suit up for a full-scale attack. If Zordon is able to free Dimitria, they will unleash the Ninjetti Powers; I do _not _look forward to that."

"We must move our blockade into orbit to keep them from fleeing in case they fail," Hera continued. "After dispatching the new soldiers, I will have our friends in the Alliance move their craft within beaming range."

"Proceed," Zeus allowed.

"Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia; you three return to Earth and keep an eye on our prisoners. I don't want Zordon freeing the ex-rangers."

"Right," Poseidon agreed. In a splash, he was gone, while Demeter disintegrated, and Hestia turned to sand that disappeared.

"The rest of you, come with me and prepare for battle. We must guard the Pink Ninja with our very being."

—XVIII—

Hunter and Dustin, the lead runners, skidded to a halt outside the Chrominite stronghold, easily identifiable by the Greek architecture intertwined with technologically advanced machinery.

"I can feel her Ninjetti Presence; she's on a lower level beneath the easternmost spire," Zordon dictated.

"Rangers," Wes could be heard from the braces, "I'm picking up…more…_ranger activity_?"

"That's impossible," Justin said through his brace, "Tommy, Jason, Taylor, and Kat don't have active morphers."

"There are 13 of them," Wes continued.

"Send me the scan," Nike demanded. "That can't be right."

"No need to scan," said a female, robotic voice.

As if in slow motion, the rangers whipped their heads to their right, steam rising from the ground as a metallic panel opened and gave way to 13 shadowy figures. When they stepped into the light, though, it was clear that Wes's readings were indeed correct.

"That's impossible," Zhane whispered half to himself.

Leo felt chills creep up his spine as he remembered the sheer power displayed by them on the one occasion he'd fought them off.

"Psycho Bronze!" the one in front screeched as it posed, his voice like an echo in a metallic hall.

"Psycho Garnet!" another male-shaped one called.

"Psycho Auburn!" Ryan's color-copy shouted.

"Psycho Ivory!" announced the blindingly white psycho counterpart to Leo.

"Psycho Diamond!" followed a grey-tinted psycho ranger.

"Psycho Topaz!" cried out a dark orange psycho ranger.

"Psycho Sapphire!" came the call of the blue-inspired psycho.

"Psycho Chrome!" Dustin stared his clone down.

"Psycho Jade!" said the first female psycho ranger, posing with her brothers.

"Psycho Onyx!" was the next in line, most likely the leader as Hunter was of the Fury team.

"Psycho Amethyst!" the second female Psycho Ranger screamed.

"Psycho Agate!" another female Psycho introduced herself in a sultry fashion, posing with the others. Natasha remained blank of emotions.

"Psycho Magenta!" finished the last female. Skylar's eyebrow twitched as she frowned her copy down.

"Dad, you go find Mom; we'll handle these fakes," Nike reported.

"Time to suit up," Hunter ordered. "Ready?"

"READY!"

"NATURE'S FURY, RELEASE FROM IN ME!"

Justin felt the rush of pure energy envelope everywhere. Roaring Thunder surrounded him as he felt his clothes disappear and saw his body glow bright gold. A suit began to materialized, hugging tight to his skin, before his pants appeared, flowing loosely but fittingly. He heard his belt click shut with a circle bearing the mark of Thunder right in the middle. On his left breast, a circle appeared that bore another symbol with which he had only vaguely become familiar; the neo-thunder, or sonic, symbol. On his right shoulder, a portion of his suit remained empty before stripes of color appeared; he was told each stripe represented a ranger color. Two gloves appeared, followed by two blue bands on either arm. Finally, he felt his helmet begin to form; first the base, then a beak bearing a hexagonal horn of sorts appeared, followed by eyes that were lined by eyebrows of sorts. The beak ended near his ears and formed a crown of sorts at its tips. Lastly, four feathers, jagged in appearance, materialized around a mouth guard that came from nowhere.

"Zero, Golden Nimbus Fury Ranger!" Justin called out, striking a pose. He looked around to see the other rangers posing similarly, calling out their respective powers.

"Now we can have a ranger showdown…this should be fun!" Psycho Onyx chuckled maniacally.

"This could get ugly," Hunter said half to himself.


	19. The Rogue Ranger

_**Chapter XIX—The Rogue Ranger**_

Dodging quickly, Justin avoided the fist that was intended for his helmeted face, then he brought his arm in elbowed his attacker in the neck. The black-and-bronze Psycho Ranger stumbled backward before Justin laid into him with a series of brutal punches, knocking him into a tree branch that cracked like thunder.

"They're not as tough as they look, guys, this must be a distraction!" Justin called above the calamity. He almost wished he hadn't spoken.

The other rangers weren't fairing as well as he was, and it struck him as odd that he should be excelling when the others had much more practice than he did.

He saw Sky attempt to roundhouse his garnet-tinted opponent, but his leg was parried and he was then knocked in the chin by an uppercut. Leo was fairing somewhat better against his foe as he blocked and dodged the swipes meant to kill him, but even he couldn't defend long against the brutal attacks the Ivory Psycho Ranger was unleashing. When Justin observed the battlefield, it was littered with falling bodies: Zhane had been all but decimated by his opponent, Hunter, Nike, and Andrea were being demolished by a trinity of their color opposites, and Bridge had just been blasted into Natasha, whereupon the two were double-teamed by Psycho Agate and Psycho Topaz. Andrea and Nike had managed to keep their Psycho counterparts at bay by attempting to switch opponents, but the Psycho Rangers were too witty and too quick, and the flounced the Eltarian sisters eventually.

Justin became suddenly overwhelmed, but he noticed Carter and Ryan were still fighting fiercely, trying their best to overcome the forces against them.

"Pay attention, golden boy," Psycho Bronze taunted as he flipped forward and landed a double kick to Justin's chest.

He reeled a few feet before he sprung forward and kneed Bronze in the gut. Doubling over in pain, the Psycho Ranger left his back vulnerable to a double-fist club by Justin, who took his opportunity to make Bronze eat dirt. Then, Justin swiftly spun on his feet and launched himself in the air, crying out with rage as he accessed his Fury Powers. "Sonic Wave!"

As Justin's hands thrust forward, ripples of sonic energy shot forth toward Psycho Bronze, who was just recovering from the previous assault. As soon as the energy attack connected with his body, he went delving into the ground as if he'd been drilled into it by some invisible force.

The situation with the other rangers was worsening now.

"We're still not fully used to the Fury Braces," Andrea informed the others as they regrouped, sweating under their Elesferi, panting, and sporting a myriad of different injuries. Justin immediately flipped over to them to get a report.

"For some reason, the Newbie has adapted quite rapidly to the new powers," Natasha said pointedly. "However, if we are to succeed, we will need everyone performing at maximum efficiency."

"How can you talk about maximum efficiency when you're getting your ass kicked, too?" Zhane demanded bitterly, his eyesight never leaving the cackling and regrouping Psycho Rangers.

"I am performing to the best of my abilities."

"Let's try the Elesphere Javelin," Hunter suggested, interrupting the Orange and Blue Rangers.

The other rangers nodded, calling on their power weapons all at once. Hunter had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that this wasn't going to work, for some odd reason. When he had been fighting Psycho Onyx, the doppelganger had known every move Hunter had, even if he tried to make up a new one.

Seconds later, the Elesphere Javelin was assembled, all the weapons stacked and arrange tactically to form a large cannon like device prepared to fire all sorts of spears and energy. Hunter's finger lingered on the trigger. The Psycho Rangers weren't making any attempt to stop them from firing or to shield themselves.

"Zhane," Hunter whispered, "you've fought the psycho rangers before; what are they up to?"

Behind his helmet, Zhane was frowning deeply. "I'm pretty sure they're going to either absorb the energy or deflect it back at us."

Hunter, who had been afraid of such a plan, sighed in frustration. "New plan everyone. When I yell fire, everyone grab your individual weapon and launch a projectile. Maybe we can catch them off guard. What do you think, Zhane?"

"That should work; they won't be expecting that!"

"Alright, awesome. You know the plan, everyone," Hunter reminded them. He tensed, and shouted, "Fire!"

In a flash of all their colors, each ranger bounded forward, weapons glinting in the setting Infernus suns.

In the chaos of battle, the rangers could make out the attacks of their teammates – cries like "Sonic Slasher" and "Photon Volley" filling the air.

But Hunter's plan still failed. Each of the Psycho Rangers leapt into their color counterpart's blast and swirled their hands into balls, bouncing the energy right back at the rangers. After the earth-shattering explosion, Justin was the only one still standing. The others seemed to be out cold before he heard coughing and gasping—no doubt his teammates trying to reclaim their breathing.

"Well, it looks like we have a rogue ranger," observed Psycho Onyx.

"As long as one of us is standing, we'll keep fighting," Justin shot back haughtily.

"What is one lone ranger possibly going to do that 12 couldn't?" cackled Psycho Jade.

Justin was hesitant. The Psycho Rangers had a point. He was not only alone, but he was new to all this. He had no idea how to use his powers as well as the others, he'd been inactive as a ranger for years, and with the odds at 1-to-13, he didn't see his chances getting any better.

But then he remembered something Zordon had told him long ago—that a ranger is never truly alone. "The Power is always with you," the wise mentor had said. And even more recently, Hunter had said nearly the same thing, but in a much less vague manner; "You're part of the team now; no matter what, we got your back."

Even though the other Fury Rangers were down, their powers flickering back and forth like an out-of-tune television, he could feel them behind him—backing him all the way. The helplessness Justin felt on a day-to-day basis began to melt away as he embraced the fact that he needed people. He needed his friends. And most of all, he currently needed their power.

Going off pure ranger instinct, he set his left foot forward, staring the Psycho Rangers down.

"I'm not alone, Psychos," he said firmly. "I wouldn't expect you to know anything about this, but I'm part of a team, and regardless of where they are or what shape they're in, I know the other rangers are at my side and my back. You think that if you pick us off one-by-one, color-by-color, that you'll win. Maybe another time you would have. But today…not a chance."

And then, something weird happened. A sphere of rippling gold energy began to surround Justin, 3-feet on every side, until he was floating in midair and absorbing the energy around him.

"He's tapping into the battleizer!" Nike noticed, astonished.

"Let's help him out!" said Andrea, kneeling feebly as she held her Fury Brace forward.

The others followed suit, watching their Cronus Stones shine brightly with the force of the sun, until beams of energy shot from them into Justin's Sonic Sphere. It began to vary its colors constantly, like an undiscovered kind of rainbow, before it exploded in pure energy. On the inside, Justin's metamorphosis began.

The first thing the former Turbo Ranger noticed was his muscle bulk increasing instantly. He felt his abs ripple and his biceps bulge; his back arched with new strength and hands tightened with ferocious power. Next, his pants shredded off in a burst of energy, revealing a continuation of his golden suit that covered his torso. His old gauntlets unraveled as new ones slipped on, and inlaid circuitry on his gloves laced up his finger tips. Then, around his collar rose two plates of armor that mocked a collar themselves, and then led down into a pectoral plate of armor with all sorts of aerodynamic indentations and vents. From his shoulders were two large, ventilated shoulder pads, under which two smaller ones jutted out. Around his deltoids, more pads, and on his upper arm were two circlets not unlike the ones originally on his suit. Then, from the chest plate decended a series of ribcage guards that spiked out like large metallic feathers, each with technological etchings on them. On the underside of them, were jet-like thrusters, and on his back was a single engine cell concealed by spiky armor. Right under his new belt hung a series of three, steel-plated tassets lined in blue trimming, and a new, sleeker crotch guard attached to the middle of his belt. Lastly, Justin felt his helmet change. Around his chin and jawline, the feathers that previously decorated his helmet like serrated edges became more dramatized and spread all the way up past his ear. In the middle of his helmet shot a visor not unlike the scanner-like eyes seen on the Alpha Five and Six units. Finally, a beak-like headdress protruded from the middle of his forehead as a horn jutted in the air from its center.

His transformation complete, Justin—still wrapped in his glowing sphere of energy—landed gracefully on the ground. When his armored feet touched the ground, a burst of delayed air shot forth from his landing point, and he seemed to be dancing on the idea of landing or floating as he moved up and down. Finally, he stood flatly and stared on at his opponents. If Psycho Rangers had expressions, Justin was sure they were panicking.

"Golden Machbreaker Fury Ranger!"

_**—XIX—**_

Even with his infinite wisdom and unbreakable bond with his wife, Zordon was finding it hard to navigate his way through the complex Chrominite corridors. It had been easy enough to infiltrate the outer-wall and phase through a few shields; now came the hard part of finding Dimitria and getting out with her safely.

Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on her presence and her presence alone, but the time he spent away from her and the recent rendezvous with his children was clouding his mind. He squeezed his eyes tighter and could almost see the path to Dimitria in his head. He intensified his focus just a bit more, and as things began to clear, he was suddenly thrust from his reverie by the intrusion of a platoon of foot soldiers.

"I would love to stay and take the grand tour," he said politely in his sagely voice, "but I'm late for a very important date with my wife."

He jumped, performing a tornado-inspired kick that sent a wave of pure Eltarian energy at the 30 or more soldiers. Instantly, they were all annihilated. It seemed his powers were returning to full with the prospect of reuniting his team.

Zordon broke into a full-on sprint, dashing through winding, metallic and marble corridors, and over random chasms where large power-supply tubules had penetrated the planet's crust like anchors. Her location was so close, he could practically feel her heart beating. By now, he was feeling more confident. All he had to do was—

He narrowly ducked under the volley of arrows that whizzed by his face. As he slid on his knees, he could see the lethal arrowheads attached to their undoubtedly chrominite-made shaft. Quickly, he righted himself and faced his attacker.

More correctly, attackers.

Before him stood the God of War, Ares; the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite; the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis; and the God of Guidance, Hermes. Artemis slowly lowered her bow, a fierce scowl worn on her flawless dark skin. Her blond haired brother, Hermes, seemed to be leading the assault, as he took on a more authoritative stance and commanded the others: "Destroy him."

Ares was the first to attack with his broadsword, but Zordon dodged, spinning horizontally on the air and connecting a solid kick to the God of War's neck. Before he could suffer from the blow, Zordon quickly pushed off from the kick he'd landed and jettisoned toward the ceiling, where he then pushed off with his hands and landed another devastating double kick to the top of Ares' skull.

Artemis looked baffled, and in her moment of hesitation, Zordon lunged at her with his elbow drawn, slamming it into her sternum, before switching hands and open-palm striking her in the exact same place. As she skidded backwards, he jumped forward and kicked her in the throat, and then finished his assault on her with a spinning crescent kick that toppled her inarguably.

He barely had time to recover before Hermes was all over him, punching, kicking, kneeing, and head-butting; but Zordon was ready. He parried faster than even he thought was possible, and when th opening came, his Serpent Ninjetti fighting style allowed him to land several small, but deadly jabs that eventually locked up Hermes' joints. He crumbled helplessly as he called to Aphrodite angrily, who was nearly trembling with fear. She knew, deep down, that Eltarians were the only beings imaginable in the 3rd dimension, that could cause the Chrominites this much pain. And now, the King of Eltar—their _Eyr—_was not only alive, but back in all his glory.

He stood from his striking position and glared at her before taking a deep breath, wheeling his arms around, and launching a concussion blast into her so ferocious that the wall behind her cracked right down the middle. In less than two minutes, Zordon had subdued four Chrominite attackers.

_**—XIX—**_

Try as he might to explain, Justin could not come up with a reason as to how he was nearly _destroying _the psycho rangers singlehandedly. Two of them, Sapphire and Amethyst, attempted to jump on his back and destroy him that way, but he fired up his single-cell thruster that acted as a jet pack, taking flight and spiraling faster than they could blink. They were tossed off instantly, hurtling through the air. But Justin wasn't quite prepared to let them have a pleasant landing. He thrust after them, and when he reached them, he grabbed them by their necks and slammed them so far into the rocky terrain below them, that a crater rippled out from under their landing zone, sending a sonic boom out for a 2 mile radius

When he rose, it was at rapid speed and straight at a group of four Psychos—Diamond, Chrome, Ivory, and Garnet. He stretched out his hands, then drastically brought them down like he was slamming something. It turned out, he was slamming pressurized air onto all of them. Their struggling forms were no match for the force of neo-Thunder, and Justin clapped his hands together, imploding the field of energy he'd surrounded them in. They were left in a steaming pile, twitching.

From afar, the other Fury Rangers looked on in astonishment.

"He's controlling the battleizer," Sky muttered in disbelief.

"It's…so powerful," added Skylar.

"It is as if he has channeled the very power of Cronus himself," Natasha even complimented. The rest of the group looked at her. "What?"

"I didn't know you could give compliments," Carter jeered.

"I didn't know you could give intelligent input."

A loud roar from Justin interrupted their banter, as the Gold Battleized ranger drove his now-bladed arm down on a frantic Psycho Onyx. When the defeated Psychos, who hadn't been immobilized already, attempted to stumble into a group, Justin began to smolder with golden energy. He was preparing for a final attack.

Zhane and Leo tensed, Hunter also worried that they would either absorb or reflect his attack. But Justin wasn't worried at all. He continued to charge up.

"I've got something for you; from your favorite little rogue ranger!" Justin bellowed over the whirring sound of his energy. "This is what one ranger can do, with the power of all the others behind me!"

Peaking in a colossal beam of energy that split the heavens, the energy sphere collected into Justin's sky-raised hands, who then swirled and lashed out with: "_Machbreaker Missile_!"

In a cataclysmic display of raw power, every drop of energy surrounding Justin shot forth and completely eradicated any trace of the Psycho Rangers. Their metallic shrieks of pain echoed in the ears of the rangers as the blinding light began to die down and the smoke settled. Justin immediately demorphed, fainting from exhaustion.

—_**XIX—**_

"Wake up, sleeping beauty," Zordon muttered softly.

The woman in the pale white robes, her flowing brown hair riddled around her face like a halo, began to stir. She was just as dazzling as Zordon remembered; bright brown eyes and a warm face, despite the no doubt cruel torture she'd been exposed to while prisoner.

"It can't be," she said breathlessly.

"I'll explain everything I can as soon as we get clear of here."

"But how did you…"

"No questions for now," he said gently but firmly.

He peaked around the corner of her cell at the decimated squadron of guards, and then pulled her along at a steady trot. "We can't get out the way I came in."

"Why not?"

"I destroyed it."

Dimitria frowned. So impulsive.

They clambered up a makeshift stairway and through a few hallways, Zordon looking behind them every so often. Up another stairwell, down a corridor of steaming pipes, through a tunnel, and out a side door they went. Finally, Dimitria stopped him.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Not a clue."

She sighed testily and looked at him with a glimmer of humor written on her face. "You come to sweep me off my feet and rescue me like you did a thousand years ago but you forget your plan?"

"That's not fair, I didn't forget my plan," Zordon defended himself. "I never had one."

She threw her arms and hugged him, despite the fact that they were in the base of their sworn mortal enemies.

Zordon took a few minutes to explain their situation as he tried to make up from down in the Chrominite base. It took no longer than five minutes before Dimitria was chomping at the bit to leave. Not only did she hate where she was, but she wanted to see her children.

A large explosion from outside gave them a slight hint as to where the exit was. Without sparing each other more than a second's glance, they were sprinting down winding paths and jumping over loose cables and stones and wires.

"I see a door up ahead!" Dimitria announced.

Zordon had seen it too.

He threw his body forward in a lunge, covering himself in an impenetrable green aura, and ripping through the thick plated door.


	20. Eltarian Exodus I, Escape Infernus

_**Chapter XX—Eltarian Exodus, Part I: Escape Infernus**_

Dimitria squinted at the immense sunlight, not at all accustomed to the triple sun assault on the skin Infernus could have; she was also unaccustomed to sun completely—she hadn't been outside since her capture. And the heat! She stumbled backward faintly, but her husband's strong arms were there to catch her at a moment's notice.

"This way," he whispered, his laser-like eyes cutting through the sun and smoke. Smoke?

Just ahead, in the clearing he'd left the Rangers, was an unmistakable amount of smoke. Unfortunately, the stale, dry air hardly helped rid the field of its presence. Worry gripped at him, for he could not make out any Ranger activity for a mile, and he could hardly feel any Eltarian vibes.

But then he heard it. Clear, distinct laughing and cheering—both of which he knew the Psycho Rangers did not do in such a happy manner.

"You should have seen yourself, dude! You were all _vshoom_ and they were all _brrrrk_, and—oh man, that laser at the end—it was like _eeeyooowshhhhhhhhh_."

"What is _that_?" Dimitria demanded in a frustrated confusion.

"That would be Dustin Brooks; the team's silver ranger…and our son's potential mate."

Dimitria noticeably stopped walking. "The children are here?"

"Equipped and trumping the _Kromynitap_ one at a time," Zordon reported as he heaved her along, using the Eltarian word for Chrominites.

Dimitria could hardly contain herself as she flipped the hood of her gloomy Chrominite cloak and trudged through the smoke, spluttering slightly.

Justin, the team's newest addition, could be heard chuckling faintly as Natasha propped his head up and examined him for trace amounts of Cronus radiation.

"All seems to be fine," she said shortly. "It would appear the Battleizer had no adverse effect on Mr. Stewart."

"We need to find mom and dad and get out of here," Andrea said, dismissing talk of the Battleizer all together.

No sooner had she spoken did Zordon emerge from the smoke, his green cloak billowing in the fading smoke. Behind him came a woman with flowing brown hair in drab garments. Despite the shabby state of her clothing, it was easy to tell that her beauty was awe-inspiring.

"Mom," Nike half-whispered to herself.

Even Hunter had to admit that he was emotionally stunned at the reunion. For now, the dreams he'd had since he was born—images of shiny palaces and foreign wars, and a woman muttering a silent prayer over him—all of them made sense. This was his birth mother.

Dimitria Zeta.

—_**XX—**_

"This is _not _going as planned," Zeus was barely able to growl out, sensing the shift in the Morphing Grid.

"We have far more pressing matters," Hera reported angrily, not in the mood for her husband's temper tantrums. "Zordon has freed Dimitria, and it seems his full Eltarian powers are swiftly returning; he incapacitated Hermes, Ares, Artemis, and Aphrodite single-handedly."

Zeus was standing now, his immature rage and foolishness replaced by his Cronus State—the sobriety of his titan father now flowed through him as part of the master Titan controlled him.

"Prepare for a full scale attack," he ordered. "Have the blockade destroy any vessel that enters or leaves the atmosphere."

"But your Ranger spies," Hera objected.

"They are expendable. Now," he said, stepping mere inches from her face, "armor up."

He disappeared to the armory in a shower of electrical sparks, Hera following in stardust.

In the armory, Hephaestus had already been preparing since he'd heard the call of Zeus earlier. Each Chrominite's armor was already shined and rebuffed. Each set of armor was unique in its design with a different motif but the same futuristic yet archaic structural integrity. The Chrominite Cross, or _Kromynitap Kroz_, was branded on the right breastplate of each set of armor, and on the left was a celestial symbol referencing each God's spiritual counterpart.

"Hermes," Zeus spoke through the commlink built into his Spartan-style helmet, "have the Omagnas prepare a fleet of ships and ready Mount Imperious for departure. There is nothing left on this planet if the Rangers escape."

"As you command, father," Hermes obeyed.

"Hades, I want you to warp to your Earth realm and bring back Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia; we are going to full scale war mode."

"Certainly," Hades said robotically.

"With my brothers returned, and all of us in the Cronus state, the Rangers _will _fall," Zeus said to himself, unsheathing his jagged Thunderbolt Blade.

In small clusters, Chrominites began appearing in the armory, donning their respective armor and collecting their weapons. It didn't take long until they were all ready, gathering in the war room for Zeus's instructions.

"My orders are clear. Kill Zordon and Dimitria, defeat the rangers, but do _not _kill them." He especially looked at Ares as he gave his orders before he continued, "By the end of this day, we will have victory."

Swiftly and flawlessly, they all marched out, weapons drawn, and determination in their cold, steely eyes.

Outside, the rangers were all attempting to escape quickly, but with Dimitria in her weakened state, it was difficult.

"Let me carry her, dad," Nike offered again. "I can easily fly her and I back to the ship so we can hurry."

Finally, Zordon let go of his pride and hoisted Dimitria up onto a glowing disk of purple energy whipped up by Nike.

A bolt of lightning whizzed by Nike's hair, but Hunter was immediately intercepting it from striking Dimitria, absorbing its energy into his body and repowering his morpher.

"We've got company."

"Fuck," swore Zhane, "there's no way we're in any shape to win."

"Battleizer's out of the question," Justin panted, clinging to Natasha who was flying him.

"You guys get to the ship and prepare for takeoff; I will hold the Chrominites off."

"You're crazy!" Andrea barked as soon as the words left her father's mouth.

"I must agree," Natasha said cautiously, "your decision is strategically laughable."

"Don't count your old man out just yet," he said to his three children. "And don't overestimate yours," he added to Natasha. "I know my limits."

Dimitria bent down to kiss him quickly as Hunter intercepted another thunderbolt from Zeus.

"Can we wrap this up, I'm about full," Hunter shouted, destroying a thunderbolt with a lightning bolt of his own.

Zordon patted Hunter on the back, told him to lead wisely, and bounded off toward the Chrominites.

—**XX—**

"We'll never make it past the Force Field again," Sky said as the large ship rocked with motion.

"We've got to try," Zhane replied. "Deca, give me full power to the Foreward Deflector!"

"We're taking heavy laser fire to our Port Stern!" Natasha reported.

"Shields are weakening!" Carter chimed in.

The Megaship shook angrily from a massive hit.

"Direct hit to our secondary hull!" screamed Natasha over the short-circuiting of a few consoles.

"Mega decks 12 and 13 are losing structural integrity!" Hunter said as he skidded into the room, sliding to a halt at a battle station.

"How's your dad?" Zhane asked, furiously trying to pilot the ship through the upper atmosphere of Infernus.

"He's pretty banged up—like, a lot—but he'll be fine once we get to Eltar."

"_If_ we get to Eltar," Ryan added bitterly.

"We will prevail," Natasha said. She earned a few stray stares, but backed her claim. "If there is one weakness the Chrominites have, it is their incompetence in space. Oftentimes, I would lead space conquests with a fleet of foot-soldiers."

"What about the blockade?" Hunter asked. "Do you think you could steer us through it."

"I have a theory that may work, but it would require some time." She moved from her battle station and checked a few calculations at the next, the ship lurching from time to time caused by laser fire. "Zhane," she said urgently, "can you manage to hold the ship together for 4 minutes and 17 seconds?"

"I sure as hell would die trying."

"Comforting," she snipped, leaving the bridge.

"All hands," Hunter said, taking over the helm, "Battle Stations."

The bridge doors opened again, giving way to Hunter's sisters, Leo, Dustin, and Skylar.

"Sky, give me auxiliary to the shields—Deca, override the Foreward Bow Deflector and scatter their scanners. Skylar, head down the engine room and see if we have enough reserve canisters to power the mega accelerator for warp after we outrun those space fighters. Bridge, Leo, report to weapons array and get ready for some heavy firing." Satisfied with his commands, Hunter added quietly, "It's time to dish it back out."

"We've got an incoming transmission," Andrea said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Deca, On Screen," Hunter commanded.

The face of Divatox immediately occupied their view screen.

"Well, look who it is," Hunter baited, attempting to exude confidence.

"Listen to me, you little brat; you are going to surrender your ship to me or I will blast you out of the sky so fast, you'll wish you'd never stepped foot outside your little ninja world."

"We don't respond to threats, Divatox," Dustin fired back.

"Then prepare to be boarded," she growled lowly.

The view screen re-displayed the now star-ridden sky.

"Wow, Infernus has a nice view past that hideous atmosphere," Nike admired.

"Those aren't stars," Leo mumbled.

"They're battleships," noted Bridge.

"How the _hell _are we going to make it out of here?" Dustin asked Hunter quietly.

"Come on, Natasha; where's that Chrominite confidence when we need it?"

"The lead ship is preparing its electron torpedoes," said Sky slowly.

"They're targeting our bridge!" announced Leo.

"Zhane, get me some motion here!"

"Evasive Maneuvers aren't really going to do much against Electron Torpedoes, dude; they target our power core."

"So let's try to outrun them!" Hunter shouted. "Do it!"

So the ship spun quickly in a sort of barrel roll. Hunter watched the clock on his dash. Two minutes left until Natasha's "theory" would be ready.

"Brace for impact," warned Leo, "sensors show their torpedoes will hit in 45…40…"

"Deca, cut deflector array and send out an EMP!" Hunter thought brilliantly.

"That'll leave us sitting ducks for at least a minute until our shields are back!" Zhane chastised. "Leave the space battle to me!"

"Do it!" Hunter yelled to Deca. "If we don't do this, we'll be blasted back to Infernus in pieces in less than 20 seconds."

Deca complied as the missiles fell short by mere kilometers, spiraling confusedly before the slammed into each other.

"The shockwave ruptured our port stern thruster," Andrea said from damage report.

"Time to shields?" Hunter wondered in frustration.

"30 seconds and counting," said Nike.

"Return fire! Launch our rapid fire missile reserves on my mark," Hunter ordered, waiting tentatively. When he saw 5 seconds before the shields would re-energize, he cried, "Mark!"

A volley of missiles burst forth from the aft of the ship, decimating most of the fleet that had overtaken them at the last second. An unmistakable red glow celebrated the return of the shields as the crew cheered.

"Hunter," Natasha's voice came from the intercom, "have Zhane cut the ship's engines."

"What?"

"We are going to ride a Solar Wind clear through the blockade," Natasha said with a faint smile audible in her voice.

"That's ingenious!" Bridge commended.

"Great job, Natasha," Hunter commented. "I'm assuming you just rerouted all auxiliary to shields?"

"Even better; I'm powering the shields."

He was silent for a moment. "What?"

"Our shields are now emitting a constant radiation of Cronus energy laced with temporal variations unique to my piece of the Cronus Stone. The solar wind won't affect our main hull at all."

The Rangers all looked incredulously at Hunter.

"Have I ever mentioned I love this girl?" Nike wondered.

—**XX—**

"Most of the blockade hung back, but our long-range scanners are showing Chrominite activity on Infernus—I think they're preparing to chase us," Natasha reported to Zordon.

"Let them come," he said weakly as he sat up in his medical bed, the sensors whirring in rebuttal. "The Eltarian Army will be ready."

"The Eltarian Army?"

"It is hidden—a secret nation devoted solely to the defense of our planet."

"How can an entire nation be hidden?"

Zordon looked at her, perplexed.

She automatically knew what he was thinking. "Zeus has very little information on you Eltarians. I am hesitant to show my face…"

"Why?"

"I am half-Chrominite. The people of Eltar will know upon seeing me."

Zordon chuckled. "You're arriving with me—you'll be a guest of the Royal Family. Trust me, you'll be fine. Besides, we're not going for a vacation, we're going for training and safety."

Natasha nodded and stood, her report now finished. "I will leave you to your rest, now."

She briskly walked to the door, which slid open, but Zordon called out to her. "I was curious," he said, "how did you plan that solar wind trick?"

Hiding the faint trace of a smile on her lips, she said, "I merely calculated the solar cycles of Infernus—their daylight is divided into three types of day, as each sun gives off different light. The changing of the planet's location between Solaris Prime and Solaris Trice intersects with a massive Solar Wind from the gravimetric pressure exuded by Infernus."

Zordon held up a hand politely, "I was only curious."

"My apologies."

"None needed, Natasha; thank you."

**—XX—**

"Sir, we've got them in our sights," the squad leader of the Chrominite fleet reported to Zeus via commlink.

"Pursue and destroy; we cannot allow them to get to Eltar," Zeus barked back immediately, removing his gauntlets and rubbing his forearms.

"Affirmative."

Zeus closed the communications channel and looked back at Hephaestus, who was standing near his controls.

"Bring us up to maximum velocity; we're going to join in on the attack this time."

Hephaestus nodded, engaging the controls as instructed.

"Chrominites! Battle stations!"

There was a graceful swooping noise as the robes of the Gods slid across the floor to their respective thrones. From the armrests sprang metallic trays on which various foreign devices blinked and spun.

"Weapons are ready," Ares said, beginning the systems report.

"Shields at full," Athena followed.

"Sensors are restored—"

"As are scanners," said Artemis and Poseidon in turn.

As the report rattled off, Zeus felt himself tensing. For the first time since the invasion of Earth, Zeus felt uneasy about his victory. He'd lost Hades' willingness, every evil ranger he'd acquired, his control over any of the Titans, and was no closer to freeing his father than he'd hoped. Now, Zordon of Eltar, the only person powerful enough to lead a rebellion against his forces, was returning to Eltar to mount his forces. This was not good at all.

"Where are Divatox and her forces?" he suddenly wondered.

"We lost them in the blockade," Belial said, appearing on the bridge of Mount Imperious' ship formation in a burst of dark flames.

"Nice of you to show up," Zeus spat, never glancing back at the Infernal Demon God.

"Sir, we're closing in on them fast," Hermes interrupted.

"Weapons to the ready," ordered Hera, anticipating a battle.

"Fire at will," Zeus instructed.

Giant lasers composed of elemental energy slammed into the weakening shields of the Rangers' ship. A volley of beams continued until a medium sized explosion on their hull was visible.

"Aim for their engines; our scanners say their aft shields are only at 28 percent," said Hestia, looking up.

"Ready the _Titanomachy _Missiles," Zeus half-shouted anxiously.

"_Titanomacy_ Missiles ready," Aphrodite reported with a strange sense of sobriety.

"Fire!"

Missiles the size of the Megaship itself emerged from two pillars along the ship as they fired forward, hurtling toward the Megaship at unimaginable speeds.

The impact released a brilliant burst of energy as the entire rear portion of the ship cracked and crumbled, the Rangers' engine cells exploding in an atomic reaction.

"Their engines have been destroyed!" cheered Dionysus.

"Our long range scanners are detecting an incoming ship," said Artemis, ruining the celebration.

"On screen," Zeus said with a hint of happiness present in his voice.

It was Divatox' ship.

"Ah, reinforcements. Have them fire their Electron Torpedoes to finish off the rangers. If Divatox kills them, we'll still be able to use the Stones."

"Affirmative," Artemis responded.

Two glowing orbs of torpedoes rushed past the view screen of Mount Imperious, dashing right toward the nearly destroyed ship. When they connected, a wave of electronic energy surrounded the ship, causing it to surge, before exploding miraculously.

Zeus grinned sinisterly as he snarled out, "Endgame."


	21. Eltarian Exodus II, Feel the Pressure

_**Chapter XXI—Eltarian Exodus, Part II: Feel the Pressure**_

Dustin opened his eyes groggily. The first thing he saw was the beautiful brown hair of Nike Zeta swinging freely in what appeared to be a wind tunnel. There was a purple veil like an 8-foot high dome, and he squinted to notice Nike was keeping it up somehow. He looked to either side and noticed the bodies lying around him, all of them unconscious with sleep or…

"What happened?" he suddenly asked, jumping up.

They were on a barren white field, rocks of all sorts surrounded them under a pitch-black sky of stars and…metal.

"We crash landed on a moon," Nike, the purple ranger, managed to say through gritted teeth. "The teleporter didn't have enough energy to get us all the way to Eltar, so we had to crash land here; the only problem is…" she stopped to suck in a strained breath, "there's no breathable air on this moon."

Dustin frowned, and then clapped his hands in inspiration. "I can make us an atmosphere!"

"That would take way too much energy," Andrea said as she slowly stood from the dusty moon ground. "How far are we from Eltar?"

"Not far," said Zordon, standing with the assistance of Hunter and Dimitria. He was still injured from his fight with the Chrominites on Infernus.

"Do you think we could make it if we called the Titans from Earth?"

"It is doubtful. The Chrominites are already converging on our location and they will destroy the Titans in our weakened state," Natasha informed them.

By now the rangers had all recovered from the loss of their ship, though not all were well. Justin, especially, had been injured in the teleportation to the moon, along with Wes, who had been assisting Zordon.

"We're totally fucked, aren't we?" Zhane asked brashly. "I mean, if the Chrominites are on their way—_all _of them—then there's no way we'll be able to beat them all; not with Zordon worn out, and Justin out of commission." He took a moment to arrange his thoughts, no one bothering to disagree with him. "Do we even have Battleizer access without Justin?"

"All of us can access it," said Sky, "we just have to know how. Now, we've got to pull ourselves together if we're going to have a fighting chance against the Chrominites."

"Sky's right," chimed in Hunter. "The Chrominites are immortal, but they're not unbeatable; they feel pain, and they can be trumped. We just have to pull together and overpower them."

"Calling the Titans sounds like a good idea to me," said Ryan. "At least that way we'll be bigger and can avoid direct damage."

"No," Natasha cut him off. "The Titans are not just _zords _you can throw around. They are living beings who are now bound to you by your Cronus Stone shards. Why do you think that when Hunter, Nike, and Andrea were defeated in the Titans that they were powerless? Why do you think my own Titan lost its will to fight when I fell from it?"

She was clearly indignant, and Ryan remembered she had a deeper tie with the Titans than they did. She was actually partly related to them.

"Well, the Titans are off limits, then," Dustin decided. "We'll have to fight them here. I think I might have a trick or two to at least get Justin and Zordon back on their feet, but I'm going to need your help, Hunter."

The team looked at Hunter, who seemed to know exactly what Dustin was thinking.

It was an old Ninja Ritual that involved channeling the energy around them into raw life force and directing it into something else—some_one_ else. The only problem was that the life force lasted twice as long as it normally would, and if it were to be placed upon someone with too little self-control, it would kill him or her.

And so Dustin and Hunter explained to the vessels receiving this energy—Justin, Zordon, and Wes. When it seemed that they understood, the two Ninjas set off by themselves over the rocky lunar terrain to gather energy. Dustin had wrapped Hunter in a small, fitting air-shield that would work just as the atmosphere of Earth worked. It would absorb and convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen, so that the supply was never ending. Hunter had to admit, he was impressed.

"So," Dustin said awkwardly, realizing this was the first time they'd had alone since entering the Underworld.

"So," Hunter chuckled.

"How's…having a family again?"

"Weird," the blond immediately replied. "For so long, Blake's been my only family, and now I come to find out I've got these two other sisters—who are awesome, don't get me wrong—and then these two parents who are like…Gods themselves. It's weird."

Dustin remained silent as he searched the lunar surface.

"But they love me, that much I know."

Dustin looked up, grinning. "Yeah, they definitely do."

Hunter was quiet as he searched with Dustin, and then finally spoke. "Is this…weird for you?"

"You're an alien prince…it's kinda cool."

"I mean…me…you know…liking you."

The Silver Ranger glanced over at Hunter with a small smile on his face. "Not at all."

There was a brief pause and Hunter looked downright uncomfortable.

"I…think I might actually have feelings of my own," Dustin continued, causing his Black Ranger comrade to look at him in shock. "I was sorta talking about it with Nike."

Hunter blushed. "So…what does that mean?"

"Well, according to Nike," Dustin said, picking up a large crystal from the ground and weighing it, "this is more natural for you. So, as usual, you get to lead."

With a smirk, Hunter stepped forward. "Then can I do this again?"

There was a strange flickering in the atmospheric shields Dustin had erected around them, and they merged into one bubble of protection and tried fruitlessly to regulate the breathing of each ranger as their lips met.

"Now _that_," Dustin said breathlessly, "was awesome."

Hunter grinned widely as his cheeks heated up in embarrassment. "You can say that again."

"I guess we'd better hurry and get back then, huh?"

Hunter nodded bashfully, tossing Dustin another moon crystal. "I think we've got everything we need now."

Sensing the double-meaning in Hunter's words, Dustin gave him a faint smile before he headed back to the large red dome now held up by Sky.

The procedure didn't take long, though the moon crystals certainly had a lot less energy than either ninja had hoped. It only half-recharged Justin's morpher, though Zordon seemed to be at full energy, and Wes was ambulatory and appeared fine.

"We need to take up positions for when the Chrominites arrive. And we need a place for Wes to hide," Nike was saying as she tore the loose ends from her tattered clothing.

"We should hold off on Morphing for as long as possible," Carter suggested, "that way we'll have more time to wear them down, and then our Morphers can re-energize us when we're spent."

"I agree," Natasha replied, "we must be extremely cautious, however; the Chrominites won't risk killing us again, but they will severely injure us to extract the stones."

"Watch each others' backs, too," Hunter added as he squinted into the space surrounding them. "They'll be here soon."

"Sooner than you imagine, Black Ranger," said Zeus as he appeared from a cloud of static energy. He was standing outside the atmosphere, of course, as he needed no air.

"Ready Rangers?" cried Hunter, as the rest of the Chrominites appeared.

"Let's do this!" came a unanimous response.

Dimitria and Zordon took off before the Rangers, glowing with Green and Pink auras that surrounded them and protected them from the lack of oxygen on the planet. Meanwhile, Zhane, Leo, Ryan, Carter, Natasha, and Skylar hung back inside an atmospheric field. Justin was able to manipulate air particles like Dustin, creating a field for himself, along with Sky, Bridge, Dustin, Andrea, and Nike; Dustin had again lent Hunter a shield of his own.

The Rangers who hung back fired up projectiles; Zhane's fire was useless outside the atmosphere, but Ryan's ability to manipulate any mineral allowed him to hurl massive moonstones at the Chrominites. Leo was combining efforts with Carter to create massive icicles, as water lost its form without gravity, and Natasha and Skylar were stuck emitting energy beams.

On the main front, Hunter had taken on Poseidon, frying him with lightning bolts; Dustin took on Hermes for a battle of speed, Sky began settling his score with Athena, and Andrea and Nike were battling Demeter and Hestia. Hera met her match with Dimitria, who was more than happy to repay her for all the years she'd spent imprisoned. Justin, as a promise to Wes, fought of Ares with intense fervor, and Zordon was at it again with Zeus. Bridge managed to keep up with Apollo, but the fight wasn't going in his favor.

The major problem was that they were outnumbered. No matter how hard they fought, the Chrominites were nearly double their number; all 18 of them against Dimitria, Zordon, and the 13 rangers—half of which were limited to the atmosphere.

As Hunter was thrown backward by the combined effort of Hephaestus and Poseidon, he slammed into a small pillar of moonstone and coughed raggedly. His atmosphere shuddered threateningly.

"It's Morphin Time, team!"

"Ready!"

"NATURE'S FURY, RELEASE FROM IN ME!"

A spectrum of all sorts of colors mesmerized the Chrominites, who had yet to witness the Rangers morph in person—except Belial, of course. It didn't take long for the atmosphere-ensnared rangers to realize their suits provided them with their own supply of oxygen.

"Time to even the odds a little!" Skylar bellowed cockily, leaping forward and kneeing Selene, the Moon Chrominite.

Right behind Skylar was Natasha, bounding forward to take on Hades who had so easily betrayed her. Despite the fact that his fire abilities did him little good, Zhane was able to take on Helios of the Sun, and Carter faired rather well against Dionysus. Leo backhanded Belial into Athena, who was busying herself with Ryan. The brown ranger then quickly took Leo's queue and slammed a rock prison around the two Chrominites.

"Enough of this!" screamed Zeus, loosing an enormous amount of electricity from his body. Several rangers were struck backwards with Hunter too far away to absorb any of the energetic onslaught.

"We're not going to be able to trump them!" Dimitria called above the racket of Zeus's energy and dodging bolt after bolt of it.

"We need a new plan!" Zordon hollered back.

Hera had joined Zeus's side now, using her powers of unity to draw from the other Chrominites and feed into Zeus's power. The bolts grew thicker and more spastic, striking several more rangers—Andrea, Skylar, and Ryan—and nearly vaporizing a few others. By now, only Hunter, Dustin, Zordon, Dimitria, and Justin remained.

"The others are losing their power!" Hunter noticed, the sickening glow of demorphing threatening the injured rangers' suits. "They need a force field!"

"On it!" Justin yelled in response, bounding toward the fallen rangers with his arms outstretched.

But a silvery fork of lightning struck him right in the middle of his back, thrusting him forward into a crater with a sickening crack.

"Justin!" Natasha muttered worriedly, trying feebly to crawl to him and check his injuries. His suit was faltering severely now.

"Dustin, go! I'll cover you!" Hunter commanded as he ricocheted another bolt away from his father.

"Hurry!" ordered Zordon as he fired off another round of Eltarian energy.

Dustin was ninja streaking—at least it seemed so—to his defeated teammates and stretched out his hand as he manipulated the energy within his body. It began to manifest, a silvery haze erupting from his hands slowly and covering at least a 10-meter radius until each of the demorphing rangers were protected within the dome.

"I got it!"

"Good, now just hold—" Hunter was cut off as he emitted a cry of agony and surprise as one of Zeus's energy bolts pierced his side—then another zapped his shoulder, before one finally hit home and struck Hunter's visor with a horrifying shatter.

"HUNTER!"

The name was a unanimous and desperate call from Zordon, Dimitria, Nike, and Andrea. But no cry resounded more than the furious howl of the Silver Ranger Dustin, whose atmosphere rippled with pure, unfiltered Cronus energy.

"Battleizer!" noticed Skylar groggily.

"You…you guys know what to do…" Sky groaned as he slowly and feebly lifted his arm to give power to Dustin.

One by one, beams of Cronus energy struck the enraged Cyclone ranger. He began to radiate their energy as it all melted into his suit. The atmosphere he'd created seemed to be feeding into him now, rather than generating from him, and as his boots left the surface slowly, it became apparent the cocoon of energy was ushering in his transformation.

Under the strain of keeping up the air barrier was clearly taking its toll on Dustin's body as his muscles bulged under pressure. Pockets of air burst under the rapid change of stability, and finally, with one indignant roar, Dustin began to shine like his own star. A bolt of Zeus's energy hit him, but bounced off harmlessly. It was too late.

Dustin could feel his helmet changing. The beak over his visor became more curved and jagged along the sides. From the Griffin eyes above the visor, two metallic feathers shot out like a crown, and near his ears, more serrated feathers sprang to life. A few indentations for ventilation now showed along his jawline, and his face mask reconstructed into a better breathing apparatus. On his shoulders, two jagged shoulder plates came forward, stretching forward like spikes and shooting back like wings. On his deltoids, two more serrated plates appeared in a spectacle of silver energy that cooled to a metallic black. Bandages of black leather ran down his arms, and on his biceps, a band with a curving spike that ran parallel to his upper arm materialized along with his metalized, feathered gauntlets. His chest became partially covered on his lower pectorals by a silver plating that bore the Air Rune and Cyclone Symbol on a central diamond, and near his upper abdominals, two compact jet-like thrusters jutted out. The most miraculous thing, though, were the incredible wings on his back. They were jagged and steely, with curvy talons striking backward and a odd handle-like fixtures near the back of Dustin's head.

In the realm of morphing, Dustin opened his eyes as a cold yellow scanner ran across his visor and he felt his body surge with new power. He could hear the roar of winds around him, and he flexed his fist to create tornados of astronomical proportion. Then the realm faded out as he floated in midair on the desolate moon.

Zeus's lightning storm was still raging, but the bolts seemed to avoid Dustin at all costs—like some sort of barrier had been erected in front of him. Only there was nothing there.

He lift his hands over his head like a diver and slammed his legs together, the wings on his back spreading ever so slightly—and then he began to spin like a twister, amassing a large amount of energy and then slamming into the ground. An enormous crater formed under the pressure as he shouted in omnipotence—the very sound particles seeming to quiver in fear—"SILVER GALEFORCE FURY RANGER!"

The rangers stared in awe and appreciation and the amount of detail on Dustin's new armor, and at the power he controlled with unfathomable ease. Only Justin could relate, but even he stared open mouthed.

The silver ranger flicked his fore and middle fingers and the barrier around the rangers enlarged and secured. Suddenly, they felt even safer. In the blink of an eye, Dustin was at Hunter's side, the black rangers atmospheric shield all but failing. With no effort whatsoever, Dustin picked him up and floated him back to the barrier, setting him down softly and whispering he would take care of the Chrominites.

Then, the thrusters on his abdomen fired up as he hurtled toward the Chrominites at breakneck speeds. Zeus's bolts were becoming bolder, but they still seemed like child's play sparklers that merely pinged off the Silver Ranger's invisible barrier. When he reached them, he began to spiral like a corkscrew and tore through their ranks, thrusting Zeus into the sky.

Hera immediately attacked Dustin's right side, but he lifted a knife-like feather gauntlet and sliced her torso open effortlessly. She shrieked in pain and her sister Demeter was instantly at her side, pelting Dustin with moon gravel. But it hardly dented his armor, and he focused a burst of pressurized air into his palm and tossed at it her leisurely. Both Demeter and Hera were flung back like ragdolls, and Dustin quickly averted his attention to Aphrodite, Hestia, and Artemis, who were moving toward him heatedly.

Dramatically throwing back his hands, he brought them forth with the slightest hint of resistance and clapped his palms together, a shockwave of inconceivable power ripping through them—literally. Skylar looked away squeamishly as Aphrodite's entire left-half of her body was cleaved from the other side. Hestia and Artemis were sliced and stabbed by the shear-like winds Dustin had conjured up, and the Galeforce Ranger mocked them with biting hostility. "Not so tough now, huh?"

"But we are!" Ares growled as he and Hephaestus led an offensive with Hades, Eos, and Poseidon.

His reserve almost as steely as his armor, Dustin forced his sword-like wings to spread just a few inches as he took off into the air. As expected, Eos chased, only for Dustin to spin-kick him back into the ground like a meteorite. The ninja then clapped his arms to his sides and pointed his feet as he entered a dive not unlike a falcon, and penetrated the earth so that a ripple of pure energy rippled forth and incinerated Ares, Poseidon and Hephaestus.

Floating up as if nothing had happened, Dustin seemed to grin behind his helmet at his next target—Hades. "You and I have unfinished business."

"Not for long," Hades snarled.

"You're right," Dustin retorted, a metallic clicking sound coming from his wings as he pulled on the handle-fixtures and _took off _his wings. So they _were _swords! "Not for long, at all."

If Hunter hadn't seen it with his own two bleary eyes, he wouldn't have believed Dustin could display such brutal cruelty as he slashed at Hades, tearing his forearm right off. Galeforce ranger then stabbed forward with his left blade, impaling the God of the Underworld's abdomen in a sort of swapped déjà vu, and then hacked with his right blade at the immortal's neck.

Hades' head rolled off without so much as a miniscule of resistance, and the God howled in pain. Seemingly sickened, Dustin withdrew his blades and tossed Hades' body away carelessly. He pushed off the ground toward Athena, sliced her in half, and whizzed past Belial—mincing him like onions. He was literally decimating the Chrominites with reckless abandon. Although, the rangers had to admit, he was quite skilled and controlled.

Before they knew it, the Chrominites were withdrawing ever so slightly. Until a ship pulled into view.

"It's Divatox!" Dimitria scowled.

"Reinforcements at last," Zeus gasped, pulling his body back together graphically after being dismembered by Galeforce Dustin.

"Reinforcements…but for whom?"

Zhane looked to Leo as Astronema exited the landed spacecraft with a look of indifference. Behind her, Diabolico, Lord Zedd, Rita, and, of course, Divatox.

"You didn't really think we'd pick a losing side, did you?" Astronema asked, her voice much less villainous than usual.

"No…way…" Justin mumbled.

With a snap of Astronema's fingers, Taylor Earhart and Katherine Hillard appeared—completely unharmed.

"Kat? Taylor!" he cried

"Drone 8472!" Zeus shouted, looking around. If all sources were correct, Tommy and Jason were to have boarded with Divatox and her company long ago.

"Your drones are captured," Divatox answered, unfazed by Zeus's glare. "And you're about to have a whole different kind of problem to deal with."

Zordon was grinning widely at Dimitria, who was still in shock of some sort.

"The Order of the Meledon has reconvened," said the King of Eltar, standing proudly and curving his hands around his chest as he focused.

Dustin stared, but never let his eyesight leave the healing Chrominites. Behind him, a ball of rapidly-color-changing energy emerged between Zordon's hands, and Divatox, Diabolico, Lord Zedd, Rita, and Astronema teleported within touching distance of him. And then the strangest thing happened.

A sphere of white energy, hazy like a ghost, seemed to mingling toward them. And Zeus was cursing at it ruthlessly, attempting to blast it.

Dustin quickly interrupted him with a high-powered laser beam emitted from the griffin eyes on his helmet. "Ah-ah-ah," he taunted the Storm God. "It's not polite to interrupt."

The ghastly figure approached Zordon, and Hunter thought he saw tears of joy in his father's eyes. Slowly, the apparition took on a figure. She was a tall, lean woman with frizzy, curly hair, dressed in a leathery, strappy suit that looked familiar to Justin.

"Is that…?" wondered Bridge.

Kat, who had entered the atmosphere, nodded smilingly. "Just wait."

Now they stood in a circle; Astronema, Diabolico, Dimitria, Rita, Divatox, Lord Zedd, the ghostly figure, and Zordon. Their arms stretched out up and toward each other as they formed a circle that Sky swore he'd seen before.

"Is that the…the Circle of the Ninjetti?" he half-shouted.

Andrea and Nike nodded, awestruck.

Dustin had created an impenetrable wall of air that slashed and sliced at anyone foolish enough to try to pass it, and he was continually blasting the Chrominites away with knife-like gusts of wind.

Zordon was uttering something in Eltarian now, his voice getting louder and louder over the sound of chaos swarming around him and his group. But then a beacon of light shot from the center of the circle and seemed to split the heavens themselves. It branched out and struck each of the members surrounding it, and as the light died down, the rangers felt a sense of disappointment.

Nothing had happened.

And then Zeus was through the wall of air, his fist colliding with the side of Dustin's helmet and sending the silver-clad boy into a crater.

"You failed, Zordon!" Zeus spat.

Dustin was back in action, but it was clear he was slowing down. The Battleizer power was fading.

"He's losing it!" Andrea noted.

Hunter gritted his teeth. "Hang in there, bro…"

"Now it's time for you _all _to die!" Zeus bellowed as he flew into the air and began to rain thunderbolts again.

"Not quite," Zordon boomed, his voice echoing off nothing in particular and an ethereal wind blowing around the troupe of ex-villains. "Ready?"

"Oh, yeah," Dimitria answered.

"We Call upon the Sacred Spirits of the Ninjetti!" all eight of them called surreptitiously.

A pillar of light illuminated Astronema, whose visage melted into the beautiful blond Karone, and was then covered in a purple garb of the ninjetti. In the middle of her chest was a diamond with a coin at its center. On it was an agile-looking bird, sparkling in gold and glowing with purple energy. Her face was covered in a mask, and her head was cloaked with ninja garments.

"Ninjetti—Spirit of the Swan!"

"Ninjetti—Spirit of the Stingray!" cried about Diabolico, who had metamorphosed into an ageless man with blood red hair and dark grey eyes that lacked a pupil. He was quickly swirled in a black wind of energy that left him fully clothed in Ninjetti attire with a golden coin like Karone's in the middle of his chest.

Dimitria now posed as light radiated from her body and pink bursts of power emitted from her. "Ninjetti—Spirit of the Flamingo!"

Rita's tall, witch-hair fell into choppy black locks that hung around her face in an almost disciplined manner, and her youthful appearance deceived just about everyone of her truly ancient age. "Ninjetti—Spirit of the Fox!" she cried, blue garments covering her nearly entirely.

Divatox now transformed into her natural identity that matched Dimitria almost flawlessly—save the rebellious look in her eyes. The woman, whose name was truly Diva, called upon her inner animal spirit and roared "Ninjetti—Spirit of the Tiger!" Her yellow Ninjetti outfit quickly appeared from nowhere as she struck a vicious fighting pose.

Most surprising was Lord Zedd, who dematerialized from his bright red, muscled appearance, to a much more attractive guise with his own fair amount of muscle. His youth restored, the man was positively radiant with red energy dancing around him as he posed in his new Ninjetti uniform. "Ninjetti—Spirit of the Gorilla!"

The woman that had been formed of the white misty spirit was now illuminated more brilliantly than before as she became solid and clothed in white robes of the Ninjetti. Her eyes shone fiercely from under her hood, and as she posed for a fight with all the ferocity of a caged animal, but exuding wisdom rivaling Zordon, she cried out: "Ninjetti—Spirit of the Owl!"

And lastly, Zordon felt his all-too-familiar power wash over him as sparks of energy effused from his glowing body. His own uniform was a bit different, possessing silver rather than gold, and a black belt like the woman in white. In the center of his chest was a silvery coin that displayed a powerful, writing creature, and Zordon posed in the middle of his team.

"Ninjetti—Spirit of the Serpent!"


End file.
